BTS‘ Jin has participated in the Paris Olympic Torch Relay as South Korea’s official representative – watch footage from the relay below.
The K-pop idol was one of 11,000 torchbearers selected for this year’s Olympic Games, with his portion of the relay taking place yesterday (July 14). Jin led the Louvre Museum section of the relay in Paris city, which began around 8pm local time.
Escorted by police, Jin received the torch on the nearby street of Rue de Rivoli before travelling 200 metres toward the museum and returning it to the torch relay centre at the Louvre Museum.
“I feel extremely honoured to have been able to participate in today’s torch relay. I sincerely thank ARMY and all the fans who made it possible for me to carry the torch,” Jin said about the experience in a press statement released by Big Hit Music, per Yonhap News Agency.
The French domestic relay has been underway for the past two months, having started in Marseille on May 8. The Olympic torch will continue to travel through notable landmarks of the capital city, going through various other French provinces before returning to Paris on July 26 for the Olympics’ opening ceremony.
Last month, Jin became the first member of BTS to complete his mandatory military service. In celebration of the singer’s military discharge, the boyband reunited during a private celebration at the HYBE headquarters in Seoul.
In the days following his discharge, Jin held a fanmeeting in Seoul to commemorate the boyband’s 11th anniversary as part of their annual ‘Festa’ celebrations. During the event, the singer surprised fans with an unreleased extended version of his solo song ‘Super Tuna’.
