Korean K-pop band 'BTS' are seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live’. (Photo: Getty Images)
Cover Korean K-pop band 'BTS' are seen at 'Jimmy Kimmel Live’. (Photo: Getty Images)

The septet have announced that they will be taking some time to work on their own solo projects indefinitely

South Korean band BTS has announced that they will be taking a break as a group in order to focus on solo projects. The news was announced by the group in a YouTube video on June 14 and was understandably met with a myriad of emotions from fans who were unsure if this meant the septet were soft-launching a breakup. 

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The group were speaking candidly at the annual Festa dinner that celebrates the group’s founding and talked about needing to explore their own passion projects without the constant recording and performing required of BTS.

“We should live doing what we want to do. We’ll probably die when we reach 100 and we can’t be BTS until then, I don’t think that’s an easy feat to achieve,” Suga said in the video. 

Above BTS Festa

“The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something,” said RM in Korean. He added that after many years of working, the group has lost its direction. 

However, the group emphasised in the video that they were not breaking up even though the group said they were going on hiatus, a term that representatives for the band later clarified in a statement. 

“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 statement said.

The group affirmed this by saying that they wanted BTS to go on for a long time but that for it to happen, they would need to take a step back and mature as individuals first. They added that lately, it has been a struggle to even come up with lyrics that mean something. 

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Since the video has come out, vocalist Jin said in an interview that he is considering going on a variety show.

“I thought about going on a variety show to make myself happy, not for the group or because of my popularity or for work, because filming those shows might put me in a happy mood,” he said. “There are some things about variety shows that are tough, of course, but it’s also a chance to laugh your head off on set all day.”

The news comes just as the group released its new album, Proof, last week, just 11 months after they released their hit single, Butter. The album immediately sold over two million copies on the first day alone.

It looks like all we have left to do is wait to see what the septet does in this time apart while putting Proof on replay.

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