It’s the end of an era … maybe?
K-Pop superstars BTS — a group that includes RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — announced on Tuesday that they would be taking time off to grow individually in a video posted to social media.
“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,” a rep for the band told HuffPost via email.
In the video, members of the band didn’t mention how long the break would last, but Jungkook said that they plan to return, per a HuffPost translation. The Butter singers indicated that they’d like to grow as individuals, take some time to mature and also work on solo projects.
“We’re each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things,” Jungkook said. “We promise we will return someday, even more mature than we are now.”
Members of the band also spoke about feeling burnt out.
“I always thought that BTS was different from other groups,” RM said in the video. “But the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature. You have to keep filming [producing music] and keep doing something.”
The group noted that the decision wasn’t an easy one to make.
“We can’t help but think of our fans no matter what, we want to be the kind of artists that are remembered by our fans. I think now we’re starting to think about what kind of artists we each want to be remembered by our fans,” Jimin said in the video. “I think that’s why we’re going through a hard time right now, we’re trying to find our identity and that’s and that’s an exhausting and long process.”
The group, which formed in 2010, first announced a break in 2019. A spokesperson for the band clarified at the time that it was instead a “brief” break, NME reported.