BTS’ Map of the Soul: Persona is officially the best-selling South Korean album of all time.
Guinness World Records confirmed an inquiry request on behalf of Billboard today, finding that the septet’s Billboard 200 chart-topping EP, released in April, surpassed the previous 1995 sales record set by Kim Gun-mo’s Mis-Encounter, also known as Wrongful Encounter or Wrongful Meeting (??? ??).
“Map of the Soul: Persona by BTS (South Korea) had sold 3,399,302 copies in their homeland as of May 2019,” Guinness tells Billboard. “The boy band’s seven-track EP, featuring the single “Boy with Luv”, was released on 12 April 2019 and sold 3,229,032 copies in its first month. Persona topped charts around the world, including the US Billboard 200 and the UK’s Official Albums Chart. The set debuted at No.1 on the Gaon Album Chart dated 13 April 2019, where it remained for three consecutive weeks."