Mexican President reaches out to BTS on sold-out ARIRANG tour: '1 million people want tickets, but there are only 150,000'

K-Pop royalty BTS officially sold out the North American and European legs of their 2026 ‘BTS WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’. Tickets sold out within a few hours of the presale and general sale for their 81 shows worldwide.Huge demand to see K-pop superstars led the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to formally reach out to the South Korean president, Lee Jae Myung, and put out a request on behalf of all K-Pop fans. In an appleal to the band, about their upcoming Mexico shows, she said, “Everyone wants to go.” “Around 1 million young people want to buy tickets, but there are only 150,000 tickets available,” she said. She was reportedly so moved by the disappointment of the unlucky fans, she said she wrote to South Korea's President Lee Jae Myung to ask that he "bring the acclaimed K-pop artists more often" to her country.Sheinbaum said she had also asked Ocesa, the promoter of the shows in Mexico, about the possibility of organizing more dates, but received a negative answer.BTS will perform three dates in Mexico City in May. The tickets, which went on sale last weekend, sold out in minutes, demonstrating the growing fervor among Mexicans for all aspects of South Korean culture, from television series to cuisine, to of course K-pop.

According to the Guardian, tickets were selling on Ticketmaster from about 1,800 pesos to as much as 17,800 pesos for VIP tickets (around $100 to $1,030), but on resale platforms on Monday the tickets were selling from 11,300 to 92,100 pesos (more than $5,300).The ARIRANG tour will officially kick off in Goyang, Korea on April 9 before continuing to Tokyo, Japan. From there, BTS will visit North America, Europe, South America, and Asia, spanning 82 shows across 34 cities.

With the world tour, BTS makes history as the South Korean artist with the highest number of tour dates and the broadest regional reach to date.BTS will kick off the North American leg of the tour in Tampa on April 25, with stops in Mexico City, Las Vegas, Toronto, Chicago, and more. It will conclude with four-night shows at Sofi Stadium in Los Angeles, spanning 12 regions and 31 shows in total. Due to overwhelming demand, additional shows have been added in both Tampa, Stanford and Las Vegas.The European leg will begin on June 26 in Madrid, Spain, and continue to Brussels, Belgium; London, United Kingdom; Munich, Germany; and Paris, France, covering 5 regions and 10 shows in total.BTS have not toured or released music since 2022 as they underwent the national military service required of all South Korean men under age 30.The band's label announced on New Year's Day they would release a new album in March before heading on a mega-tour the following month that will take in 34 cities.