[with ARMY ⑦] This Korean BTS Fan Is Burning Vacation Days to Chase the World Tour

A Korean office worker used her precious vacation days to fly all the way to France just to watch BTS perform in Paris.

On the 16th, K-POPIT sat down in France with a Korean ARMY, BTS's fandom, who happened to be on the same flight as this reporter. She was easy to spot. She wore the official tour Wind Jacket, printed in large letters with "KEEP SWIMMING," a phrase tied to BTS's recent comeback "SWIM."

"I'm following BTS's world tour across different continents this time, hitting one country at a time. Places like LA, New York and Paris, wherever I can make it work," Kim So-ra, 40, told this reporter. "I'm saving up my vacation days little by little to travel." Then she said something that caught the reporter off guard. "I took Thursday off and used a half-day on Friday morning. I'll fly back Monday morning and start working from home that afternoon. Since I have to save my vacation days, I couldn't really tour Paris. I just came for the show and I'm heading straight home. That part is a little disappointing."

Kim has loved BTS since 2021, but the first concert she ever attended was j-hope's solo show in LA. "I fell for Jimin's dance lines on the "FAKE LOVE" stage and that's how I got into the group," she said. "I was a fan, but I never really pictured myself going to a concert alone. Then a cheap flight to LA popped up, and I told myself to just go for it and got on the plane."

Kim said Korean fans keep active group chats where they trade practical world tour tips, which makes traveling the world by herself feel doable. "There's a Korean fan chat for tour information with about 160 people in it," she explained. "And each city has its own chat, like Paris or London, with more than 60 people each."

Kim also spoke warmly about the fandom itself. "Wherever you go, ARMY are kind. It feels reliable," she said. "I think it's because everyone feels like they're representing ARMY. Fans follow the artists in more ways than one. There are a lot of cases where ARMYs pool their money and donate to the same places the artists have donated to." She smiled as she said it.