The National Museum of Korea has apologized after restricting general visitor access to part of a special exhibition area during BLACKPINK’s 10th-anniversary fan meeting. The event took place on August 8, 2026, and brought Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa together with 40 selected fans to celebrate their milestone year. The museum restricted new visitors from entering part of the Special Exhibition Hall 1 area for approximately one hour, which caused changes to the workshop schedule and led to complaints from members of the public.
BLACKPINK greets fans (BLINKs) on their 10th Anniversary Meet & Greet event at the National Museum of Korea.pic.twitter.com/sxZGUSdQiv
— Pop Core (@TheePopCore) August 8, 2026
On August 28, the museum responded to an audit request from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. It apologized for the inconvenience and said it had attempted to ensure safety during the event. The museum also promised to more carefully consider the impact on general visitors and improve advance notice and operational management if similar events take place in the future.
“Although we made efforts to ensure the safety of this event and minimize inconvenience to visitors, we sincerely apologize for the shortcomings,” the museum said in a statement. “If we proceed with similar collaborative events in the future, we will more carefully review their impact on general visitors and pay greater attention to advance notice and operational management.”
#JISOO : “We knew the 10th anniversary was a really important day, but it seems like we didn’t communicate well with each other, so we want to apologize. And to the BLINKs who are disappointed, we are sorry, and we love you. We hope you can understand our feelings.”
DECADE WITH…
— BLΛCKPIИK CENTRAL (@BLACKPINKCNTRAL) August 8, 2026
The museum explained that the event was part of the “National Museum of Korea X BLACKPINK Global Collaboration” project, which had been underway since February 2026, and was not an external facility rental. YG Entertainment requested the event on July 29, while the museum director approved it on August 3. The event had already sparked controversy because it was announced two days before BLACKPINK’s debut anniversary date and it only allowed 40 fans to attend. BLINKs also complained due to the uncertainty of which members were attending the celebration, as YG Entertaiment initially said only two of them would appear. Following the backlash, all 4 members attended the anniversary event and later apologized for the short notice and the limited scale of the celebration.
