BTS held two concerts as part of their “ARIRANG” World Tour at Sol∂ιєr Field in Chicago, USA, on August 27 and 28 (local time), marking their return to the stadium after 7 years and 3 months. As soon as the concert began, ARMY’s excitement quickly erupted into roaring cheers and powerful fanchants that echoed throughout the stadium. The enthusiasm was so overwhelming that RM called Chicago “the most beautiful town out of the whole αмєяι¢α,” while Jungkook openly admitted, “Chicago, I don’t wanna leave!”

In response to the fans’ pαѕѕionate support, BTS gave their all throughout the two shows, each lasting more than two hours. The group also gave Chicago au∂ιєnces several special treats, including custom Chicago Bears footballs and merch, as well as long-awaited surprise songs. For example, during the first night, “Hip Hop Phile” υиєχρє¢тє∂ly appeared, sending fans into a frenzy.

However, on the second night, one song choice υиєχρє¢тє∂ly sparked controversy. Specifically, one of the two songs performed was “13430” from BTS’s 2018 album Love Yourself: Tear. Since this was the first time BTS had performed the song at one of their concerts since 2019, the surprise performance received an extremely positive response from ARMYs both in attendance and online.

However, shortly afterward, some netizens expressed their dissatisfaction with BTS bringing the song back to the stage. The controversy stemmed from the fact that Bobby Jung, whose real name is Jung Dae Wook, is credited on the song.

The male producer had previously faced allegations related to ѕєχual offenses. Following lengthy legal proceedings, he was sentenced to one year in prison in 2022 for filming a woman without her consent, and was also banned from working at certain facilities involving children, teenagers, or people with disabilities for five years.

Following the scandal, HYBE and BTS were reportedly believed to have deliberately distanced themselves from BobbyJung. Notably, “Home” and “Love Maze” — two songs that also list Jung in the credits — were removed from the U.S. DVD version of Permission to Dance On Stage, despite having previously been performed at concerts. For a long time, many people believed that “13430” had met the same fate and had been removed from BTS’s live performance catalog.

Because of this, the υиєχρє¢тє∂ return of “13430” to the stage after several years led some netizens to believe that there was negative intent behind the decision to include the song in the setlist. A wave of backlash quickly followed, with accusations that the group was being insensitive toward issues concerning women. The controversy became even more sensitive as BTS had recently been facing discussions surrounding some members’ connection to Chris Brown, who has been involved in multiple controversies related to νισℓєи¢є against women.

Amid the strong backlash from some netizens, many ARMYs immediately came to BTS’s defense, arguing that looking at the name of a producer in the credits and interpreting it as the group’s support for that person or as an intentional message was taking things too far. They argued that bringing an old song back to the stage could simply have been based on its musical value or BTS’s desire to give ARMY a special performance.

They also emphasized that Bobby Jung was only one of many people involved in creating the song, raising the question: Is it really fair to dismiss an entire musical masterpiece and the work of a whole team simply because of one individual’s wrongdoing? Some of the notable responses from ARMYs include:

- The difference is that, as far as I'm aware, Jung Bobby no longer receives royalties for these songs, we can listen to them without benefiting him monetarily. Chris Brown, on the other hand, faces no consequences whatsoever

- So now BTS is no longer allowed to perform their iconic songs because it's problematic now? I think you have to go see a doctor my beautiful

- The online activist have dismissed so many good movements with this mentality of "wнιтe or black" & "I'm right you're wrong" Trump mentality. This is why movements like the conservatism have been gaining adepts

- Go wash yourself, b1tch. You're starting to PISS ME OFF and ANNOY EVERYONE with your cheap-αѕѕ activism

- Listed at the bottom of the credits hbkjbjkb??? With all the drama surrounding Chris Brown, they took the opportunity to take BTS down

- These beautiful songs they created. It's their song so why would they abandon those songs for someone else!! Make no sense