BTS hiatus 2022: why is K-pop band taking a break, how long for, will they disband, has Jung Kook gone solo?

Korean boyband BTS have announced a hiatus.

The seven-piece outfit made the announcement to fans that they would be taking a break from performing as a group for the first time in their nine-year career so far.

BTS have quickly become one of the most popular band on the planet, becoming the top-selling act in the world for 2021 with hits such as Butter, Dynamite and Permission To Dance.

The break announcement was made during a televisied anniversary dinner.

Here’s everything you need to know about BTS’s hiatus.

Why are BTS going on hiatus?

Band members Jung Kook, Jin, V, RM, Jimin, j-hope, and SUGA were celebrating their ninth anniversary during a special FESTA dinner which was uploaded to the offical BTS YouTube channel.

During the event, the band, who debuted in 2013, broke the hearts of fans after announcing that they were taking a break from producing music as a band.

Jimin told fans that BTS had been going through a “rough patch”, adding that the band was “trying to find our identity and that’s an exhausting and long process”.

He said: “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 that’s why we’re going through a rough patch right now, we’re trying to find our identity and that’s an exhausting and long process.”

RM added that pressure of the K-pop machine had got on top of all of the band members, saying: “I always thought that BTS was different from other groups, 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 producing music and keep doing something.”

All band members agreed that the decision to take a break was a difficult decision, and that they felt that they were letting fans down.

What will BTS members do during their hiatus?

However, not all (j-)hope is lost, as the group’s label, Hybe, revealed that the individual members would be using the times apart to pursue solo projects.

A statment from the label read: “Members will be focusing more on solo projects at this time.”

Earlier this month, BTS released an anthology album called ‘Proof’, to coincide with their nine year anniversary, which may well be their last release for some time.

Jung Kook, Jin, V, RM, Jimin, j-hope, or SUGA have all released solo singles while the band was active, with a focus on this as the band preapres to take a break.

Jung Kook is the first member of the group to launch a solo project amid the break, with the single ‘My You’ being released as part of BTS’s ninth anniversary celebrations.

The 24-year-old told Weverse magazine that he has plenty of songs written but hasn’t been able to release them yet.

He added that he has also scrapped a raft of songs, saying: “After making the effort to write them, I should have realized I should just edit them as much as I can and release them.

“But when I heard them again after a while, they didn’t sound good, so I just deleted them all.”

Will BTS break up?

The band’s label and a spokesperson for the band both distanced the break from the term “hiatus”, despite the word being used in the English translation for the anniversary dinner video.

Hybe said that BTs were “not taking a hiatus”, while a spokesperson for the band reiterated this point, adding: “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.”

Further clarification on the length of the break and the confusion over the use of the word ‘hiatus’ was made by a representitive for the group, who said: “This period of rest will be an opportunity for the members of BTS, who have relentlessly driven themselves towards their goal since their debut, to recharge and prepare to present themselves anew as musicians and creators.

“This will also provide them with a chance to enjoy the ordinary lives of young people in their 20s, albeit briefly.”

Therefore, fans may see the band come back together once again in the future.