BTS’ group comeback in 2025 remains unconfirmed as members’ enlistment dates have yet to be announced
At the Kwanhun Forum taking place at the Korea Press Center on March 15th, Bang Si Hyuk, the “giant” behind BTS said: “I cannot promise (that BTS) will resume activities as a full group in 2025, but there is hope.”
As a matter of fact, it will be difficult for BTS to resume group activities as of 2025.
In December 2022, BTS Jin joined the military as an active duty soldier. J-Hope will be the second member to join the army after finishing his solo promotional activities.
Previously, BigHit revealed that BTS would pick up where they left off in 2025 but did not specify the date of return. Bang Si Hyuk responded: “It’s not that we will resume full-group activities, but that we and the members hope to resume full-group activities around 2025,” adding “However, it is a promise from both sides that we will do it actively, not hope that will have been blown.”
The HYBE founder also refused to disclose the enlistment dates of the remaining members, stating they are personal information that could not be revealed easily. When the dates are decided upon, the company will release the information “transparently and sequentially”.
Recognizing the social impact the renewal of BTS’ contracts can potentially have, Bang Si hyuk said: “I am cautious about saying it. BTS has been disclosing the period for transparency, and the contract period still remains. We will be talking for the rest of the time, and it is polite to the artist and fans to tell it after the story is over.”
According to the initial announcement, BTS intends to complete their respective compulsory military enlistment in 2025. Nonetheless, due to the discontinuous enlistment dates, it is harder to predict a definite date.
Bang Si Hyuk remarked Kpop is going through a “crisis” whereas the indices are declining. Currently, K-pop accounts for 2% of the global album sales. Companies such as Universal Studios, Sony Music and Warner Music account for 15 to 30%, making up a total of 67.4%.
The numbers of songs hitting charts dropped by 53% and export to other music industries witnessed a decline. Compared to the same quarter last year, the Southeast Asian region received negative growth and the number of listeners on Spotify dropped by 23%.
BTS generates an economic value of 1.000 billion won each concert night
According to the estimation of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute released on March 12th, BTS would create a maximum of 1.000 billion won (equivalent to 770 million USD) in economic value for each concert night in Korea.
In their four-day concert in Las Vegas, BTS received 131.5 billion won in revenue through their concerts and related promotions. In regards to the lightstick sales, the figure was 15.3 billion won.
Lee Young Ryeol, professor at the Seoul Institute of the Arts, pointed out that the immense impact of the Hallyu wave in general could bring about a positive economic impact to the Korean economy.
Source: K14
