Popular K-pop boy band BTS have announced that they are going their separate ways for now. The South Korean band told fans that they are on hiatus to pursue solo careers.
Fans were in tears as they announced the news during their annual FESTA dinner to mark their ninth anniversary as member RM said it was time for the seven-piece band to work separately. The members are Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook.
Explaining the decision rapper RM announced: "We're going into a hiatus now. So we did Dynamite, Butter, Permission to Dance, Life Goes On and I realised this group has definitely changed. We have to accept that we've changed.
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"For me it was like the group BTS was within my grasp until On and Dynamite but after Butter and Permission To Dance I didn't know what kind of group we were anymore."
He added: "Whenever I write lyrics and songs it's really important what kind of message and story I want to give out. But it was like that was gone now. I don't know what kind of story I should tell now."
Expanding on the reason for the hiatus RM said he needed 'some time alone' to recharge. "'I've 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,' RM said.
He added: "After I get up in the morning and get makeup done there's no time left for growth, and it's not just about music and work. I've changed as a human over the past 10 years. So I needed to think and have some alone time."
He continued: "I have to be aware of who I am what kind if group BTS is. I have to be aware of why I'm here, who the members are to me, the oath we're going to take as a group to go through interviews and write lyrics.
"But at some point I haven't been sure what group we are. I didn't know what kind of direction our group has to take." And Jimin 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 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."
Emotional fans flocked to Twitter to have their say. @Stan101395 said: "I'm just happy that you all will do what you wanted to do and have a little less schedule . THANK YOU BTS for everything."
@yonkpils tweeted: "This doesn’t feel real tho I cant actually process the idea of bts doing things separately they’ve always been such a unit."
@jiminerchild wrote: "I’m crying rn but I’m so happy for you guys." And @jeonseagullss said: "I'm literally crying listening to every single bts track since 2013. Even though it's just a hiatus, it still quite sad cos we don't know how long it will be till they're back as group."
And they added: "Oh well, at least we can focus on their solo activities. WE WILL WAIT FOR YOU."
