On March 15, HYBE’s chairman Bang Si-Hyuk attended the forum hosted by Kwanghun Club and talked about several topics including the company’s acquisition of SM Entertainment, BTS’ comeback and enlistment, and the future of K-pop.
One hot topic in the discussion is the details about the future plans for BTS. Upon the band’s hiatus, Bang revealed that there is nothing set in stone for the K-pop boy band while the seven members of the group pursue their solo endeavors and complete the mandatory military service requirements. When the break was announced back in October, the group’s label, BigHit Music, explained that it wouldn’t be too long of a break, with the band set to come back “as a group again around 2025.”
Still, Bang Si-hyuk hopes that the group’s comeback will occur on that timeline. “We said we ‘hope’ the members can resume in 2025, not ‘will,’” the chairman said. “BTS and the firm will both work for it, but it doesn’t mean we can target then,” he added.
The oldest BTS member, Jin, is the first and only one in the group (as of this writing) who has begun the standard 18-month-long military enlistment, which is required for men in South Korea. He enlisted in December of 2022. While he’s been sharing periodic updates with fans, the remaining members have continued to pursue solo works, including J-Hope, who has already been announced as have initiated the enlistment process.
“The enlistment schedules (of each member) are private information, so I cannot speak about it here. But we will disclose the dates in order transparently once their schedules are confirmed,” Bang shared during the press conference regarding the other members.
Although he did not have additional information to share, the chairman also briefly spoke about their contract renewal, which is also uncertain at the moment. “We still have time left (until the contract ends),” he explained. “We’ll discuss (with the members) within the time, and I believe it will be right for us to speak about it after the discussion ends.”
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