As BTS celebrate nine years since their debut, the South Korean boy band have announced to their fans that they’ll be taking an extended hiatus as the group’s members look to focusing on solo projects.
The news was shared during a pre-taped special that was broadcast during the group’s annual FESTA dinner, with the group reminiscing on their time together before Suga addressed the elephant in the room. “We’re going into a hiatus now,” he noted. “Should we talk about why we’re not doing the FESTA or making content?”
As the discussion continued, Jimin noted that BTS had been experiencing something of a “rough patch” in recent times. “We’re trying to find our identity and that’s an exhausting and long process,” he explained.
RM spoke candidly on the matter, noting that recent years had made it clear that BTS “has definitely changed”, leaving him to note that he “didn’t know what kind of group [BTS] were anymore”.
“Right now, we’ve lost our direction, and I just want to take some time to think,” he added.
However, despite Suga’s explicit mention of the word ‘hiatus’, a spokesperson for the band has refuted this claim, noting that BTS will be undergoing something more akin to an extended break than anything else. “To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats,” the spokesperson said.
Jungkook also attempted to assuage the fears of fans that this hiatus could be a permanent undertaking, explaining that BTS would indeed make a comeback after its members take time to explore their own projects and continue personal growth.
“We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now,” he explained. “I hope that you could give us your blessing.”
