BTS is taking a break from the gruelling K-Pop machine

The South Korean boyband has announced an extended hiatus.

K-pop band BTS is taking a break.

During an hour-long press dinner, the seven-man band, featuring members RM, Jin, SUGA, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook, announced they are “going into a hiatus” to focus on solo pursuits.

Following the dinner, at which the band members were speaking to each other in Korean; with a stream that included English subtitles, a representative for BTS disputed the word “hiatus.” 

“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,” they told Reuters. 

Some K-pop fans have speculated that South Korea’s military service requirement may have influenced the band’s decision to take a break. South Korea requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 to serve in the military for at least 18 months. Under the current law, only Olympic and Asian Games medallists and globally recognized, award-winning classical musicians are exempt. Jin, the oldest member of the group at 28, is set to begin his army service by the end of the year.

RM said that the band was experiencing an identity crisis following the release of their last few singles, saying he “didn’t know what kind of group we were anymore”, and the band’s members were “exhausted.”

He expressed concern over the “K-pop” machine, the grueling demands of the industry, which generates billions of dollars for the South Korean economy, and its impact on artists' wellbeing.

“I’ve always thought that BTS was different than other groups,” RM continued. “But the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don’t give you time to mature.”

BTS alone contributes an estimated $5 billion to the South Korean economy annually — that's around half a per cent of the country's entire economy.

The band is huge. In 2021, they dominated the Billboard Hot 100 chart for seven straight weeks with 'Butter', only to knock themselves off the summit with their follow-up single 'Permission to Dance', which debuted at No.1. Later, in September, they took out the No.1 spot again 'My Universe', a collaborative single with Coldplay. BTS is the first international act since The Beatles to release four albums that hit number one in the US in under two years. 

South Korean exports have become globally popular, including Netflix's smash-hit Squid Game, Bong Joon-ho's 2019 Oscar-winning 2019 film Parasite, and the Korean skincare regimes dominating the cosmetic industry. At the crux of the Hallyu boom, is the phenomenal popularity of K-pop, with bands like Blackpink, EXO, and Stray Kids.  

KPOP stars, Blackpink, pose together.