BTS comeback set for March, greeted with both excitement and anxiety

BTS holds a livestream on the fan platform Weverse on July 1 2025 Courtesy of HYBE — BTS holds a livestream on the fan platform Weverse on July 1, 2025. Courtesy of HYBE

SEOUL, January 02 (AJP) - It is official: K-pop supergroup BTS will resume full seven-member activities with the release of a new album on March 20, marking their first group comeback in nearly four years.

The album will be the group’s first collective release since Proof, the 2022 anthology that preceded their announcement of a temporary hiatus to fulfill South Korea’s mandatory military service requirements. All seven members — RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook — completed their roughly two-year service in 2025 and personally shared the comeback news with fans.

RM wrote that he had been “longing more than anyone” for the group’s return, while Jimin told fans, “This is the year we meet again.”

The announcement immediately reignited global fan enthusiasm. BTS’s 2022 track “Run BTS” surged back onto the iTunes Top Songs charts in 61 countries following the news, underscoring the group’s enduring global pull even during their hiatus.

BTS’s agency HYBE shares rose 4.9 percent on Friday to close at 346,000 won ($240).

For fans, BTS’s return represents more than a music release — it is a cultural moment.

“Their music helped me process feelings I didn’t have words for,” said Candace Epps-Robertson, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who turned to BTS’s lyrics while caring for her ailing mother.

As a scholar of fan communities, she also described ARMY as “an army of librarians,” noting how fans meticulously archive performances, translations and research, creating a uniquely organized global cultural ecosystem.

Korean music critic Lim Jin-mo said the comeback could mark “a revival of originality in K-pop.”

“Fans often say ‘BTS-pop’ rather than K-pop,” he said. “They are the group whose fans most strongly long for a full-member return.”

Debuting in 2013 under producer Bang Si-hyuk’s BigHit Entertainment, now HYBE, BTS reshaped the global trajectory of K-pop through self-written music and candid storytelling. They became the first Korean act to top the Billboard 200, addressed the United Nations, and received Korea’s Order of Cultural Merit for advancing national culture.

Son Min-hyun, editor-in-chief of Korean pop music magazine IZM, described BTS as “the greatest conquerors of K-pop,” meaning the group that has done the most to expand the genre’s global reach.

“The music market has changed considerably since their last comeback four years ago,” Son said. “After the global success of K-Pop Demon Hunters last year, audiences around the world understand K-pop much more clearly than before. That means BTS will now be expected to show even greater originality than they did with songs like ‘Butter’ or ‘Dynamite.’”

Such expectations help explain why the group’s return has taken longer than many fans anticipated.

During a Weverse livestream in early December, RM addressed questions about the group’s prolonged silence following their discharge.

“Many people ask, ‘Why did you waste the second half of 2025?’ or ‘Why didn’t you do anything?’” he said. “I also wanted to do many things after being discharged, but there were circumstances I can’t talk about. I don’t have the right to explain everything.”

SUGA was the last member to complete his service, finishing in June, following RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook earlier in the year. Jin, the eldest, was discharged in June 2024, and j-hope in October that year.

The pressure of returning as a full group has weighed heavily on the members. RM spoke candidly about the emotional toll.

“I want to perform right away, but preparing for it requires so much, and the pressure is huge,” he said. “Since last month, I haven’t been able to sleep. I even thought about whether I should get a prescription for sleeping pills.”

He added that he had repeatedly questioned the group’s future. “I’ve wondered thousands of times whether it would be better for us to disband or go on hiatus,” he said. “But the reason we’re still together is because of the love between the members and the respect we have for our fans.”

Fans, for their part, remain confident the wait will be worth it.

“Since becoming a BTS fan, I’ve been studying Korean,” said Lina, an ARMY member from Antwerp, Belgium. “I think Korean is a beautiful language — it sounds musical, and Hangul looks like geometric art.”

Monica, a 33-year-old fan from New York, said she was counting down to the comeback. “I’m super excited,” she told AJP. “It’s been such a long time. They were in the army for so long. I’m really looking forward to new music — and especially the tour. I haven’t seen them live since 2016.”

She added, “I’m just grateful for all the good memories already. Whatever they have in store for ARMY next, I’m excited for it.”

Lee Jung-woo cannes2030@ajupress.com