Is BTS Taking a Break? The K-Pop Boy Band Has Announced a Hiatus

Korean group BTS is an international sensation, but you know that by now. The K-pop band may have risen to wild levels of fame in Korea since they started playing shows in 2013, but now they have fans all around the world.

That's a lot of years in the spotlight though. Touring and performing can take a lot out of a person, especially when you have as many screaming fans as RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, and V do. The guys seem to be at the height of their fame, but that hasn't stopped them from taking a breather and stepping out of the limelight for a little while.

On June 14, 2022, BTS announced in a video posted to social media that they were taking an indefinite hiatus. "We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things," Jungkook said, according to E! Online. "We promise we will return someday, even more mature than we are now."

"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," RM said, according to a translation by NME. "You have to keep producing music and keep doing something."

Jimin added: "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. 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."

This isn't the first time BTS has taken a step back from music. In August 2019, their parent company BitHit Entertainment, announced that BTS would be taking an "official and extended period of rest," according to Time magazine.

"This period of rest will be an opportunity for the members of BTS ... to recharge and prepare to present themselves anew as musicians and creators," the statement continues.

They're understandably exhausted from putting on insanely energetic shows and touring all over the world for seven years nonstop. They may be boy-band superstars, but they're also human beings, and they needed a little breather.

All seven members of BTS are between 23 and 28 years old. They're young, and many of them have been performing as professionals since their early teens. They deserve a break! It can't be easy to announce to millions of adoring fans that you simply have to take some time off, though.

Some people understood that just because they are taking some time off does not mean BTS is breaking up, so they supported this period of rest. Others, as you can probably surmise, didn't take the news quite as well.

We wish BTS plenty of rest, relaxation, and self-discovery as they enjoy a much-deserved break from performing.