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President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico arrives at a press conference in Mexico City on Jan. 26, 2026. (EPA/Yonhap)

After tickets for Mexican concerts by K-pop superstars BTS sold out in 37 minutes, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum appealed to the Korean president to arrange more concerts.

According to Reuters, Sheinbaum mentioned during her daily press conference on Monday that world-famous K-pop act BTS will be performing in Mexico in May.

"Around 1 million young people want to buy tickets, but there are only 150,000 tickets available," Sheinbaum was quoted as saying.

With only three BTS concerts scheduled for Mexico City, Sheinbaum said she’d sent a respectful diplomatic request for BTS to visit her country more often. The Mexican president initially said she’d sent the letter to the Korean prime minister, before correcting herself: the actual recipient was President Lee Jae Myung.

Sheinbaum expressed her hope that BTS would accept the offer or at least allow the concerts to be streamed on large screens. She added that she wants to enable more young people to meet a group that has become so popular not only in Mexico but around the world.

Following the release of their new album “Arirang” in March, BTS will be kicking off their world tour with a concert at Gwanghwamun, in downtown Seoul. That tour will take BTS to GNP Seguros Stadium in Mexico City on May 7, 9 and 10. The stadium can accommodate 50,000 to 60,000 fans.

Concert tickets went on sale at 9 am on Saturday and sold out in 37 minutes. Ticketmaster, which is arranging ticket sales, described the scramble for seats as the fiercest of any recent concert in Mexico City.

Fans from over 1,300 cities around the globe looked up BTS’ Mexico City concerts, and not only Mexicans but people living in locations throughout the Americas — including Lima, Peru; Santiago, Chile; Bogotá, Colombia; and California and Texas in the United States — tried to buy tickets.

There are suspicions that some fans were paid a premium to snag tickets on behalf of scalpers.

Iván Escalante, the head of Mexico’s consumer watchdog agency, joined the president at the press conference, where he announced that his agency would initiate a probe into Ticketmaster for what he called a “lack of clarity” regarding information provided by consumers. 

Noting that evidence of tickets being resold online at five to six times the original going price, Escalante said his agency would sanction resale platforms. 

By Cheon Ho-sung, staff reporter

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