BTS is back – but K-pop has changed

“I missed them so much,” said Stephanie Prado, an unconditional BTS fan who was desperately waiting for the group to meet after a two and a half year interruption.

Her love for the group of boys inspired her to go from Brazil to South Korea – so it is not surprising that she arrived last Friday for “BTS Festa”, a big party held every year near Seoul on the group’s birthday.

The time she spent waiting has moved “both slowly and very quickly,” said Stephanie, waving an army bomb, the official stick used by BTS fans, who are called the army.

Behind it is a huge sculpture of light of light, a must in the world of K-pop.

This year’s event is special because a meeting is finally at the corner of the street. The countdown culminated last week, when four of the seven members, RM, V, Jimin and Jung Kook, ended their military service. And the wait ends on Saturday when the last of them, Suga, is released.

“I hope they will rest now,” says Stephanie, before adding, “but of course, I also want albums, concerts, everything”.

The 18 months in the military who are compulsory for all the South Korean men have forced the most successful boys’ group in the world in recent years to break in 2022. Now, they return, some say, in a K-pop industry which is quite different from the one they knew: faced with the sales of blocked albums, shaken by scandals and more and more scandal

The absence of a leading group, say the industry observers, has been deeply felt.

“Without BTS, a basic pillar was missing,” explains Kim Young-Dae, music critic and author of BTS: The Review.

“There were recently concerns that K-Pop loses momentum. True or not, BTS could change this perception.”

There is not yet a project for the seven members to appear together, but that did not prevent the army from gathering early by a wet morning in Goyang.

The long agitated queue extended to the metro station one hour before the doors of the BTS Festa. Extracts from English, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish alongside Korea threw a local past who asked who asked: “Why are there so many foreigners here?”

Inside were more queues – some people jumped out of excitement and others sobbed after entering the “vocal area”, a telephone booth where you could listen to messages from BTS members. About half of the fans, the BBC, spoke to Tear Up speaking of how much they missed.

“It was as if the 18 months lasted forever,” said Vuyo Matiwane, a South African who had visited sites on the theme of BTS in Seoul, like their favorite restaurant. “I was crying at every place – it was so emotional.”

And then she looked at the live broadcast of their release, which was “crushing”.

Being surrounded by everything that has made a trip around the world is worth it, explains Fara Ala, who has traveled from the Netherlands: “Breathe the same air, drinking the same water, eating the same food as BTS – that is enough for the army. If you ask the other army, they would say the same thing.”

The South Korean military service is a major test for male celebrities, many of which must enlist at the top of their success. In the past, it turned out to be fatal for certain careers.

BTS would have stunned for the seven members to be absent from the action for less than six months. J-Hope, which was released last October, has since finished a worldwide world tour. But the so-called curse can be difficult to break.

On the one hand, the loyalty of fans could decline while new groups will start almost every week, in competition for their attention. Return idols are also faced with a difficult transition because a military passage and a touch of maturity could alleviate the essence of the attraction of K-POP: juvenile energy.

But if someone can break the curse, it’s BTS, says Mr. Kim.

Each of them has announced solo projects in the past two and a half years, he explains, without harming their popularity as a group: “We have the impression that their military hiatus has passed naturally. Their return seems fluid.”

However, industry beyond the army can challenge.

While BTS was on a break, the other feeling of K-Pop, Blackpink, has not dropped an album since September 2022, opting rather for solo versions. These are the heads of the third generation of the K-POP.

But they were replaced by the fourth and fifth generations who brought a fresh style to the genre. The new acts – which made their debut after 2018 – lack the name outside competition like BTS because K -Pop has become more diverse than ever. The result is a range of very popular and experimental groups.

“Most people my age are fourth generation idols these days,” said a 13-year-old fan of the group of girls IVE.

“Some people still like third generation groups, but for adolescents, BTS has a bit feeling like it is an older generation. Many new idols made their debut while BTS was absent, and they became popular.”

But the biggest challenge for BTS’s superstar status is what some consider a slowdown in K-Pop.

Revenues from concerts remain strong, but album sales – a key metric on the market – have decreased for a peak in 2023. Sussement coincides with the moment when BTS and BlackPink did not publish albums.

The critic of South Korean pop culture Park Hee Ah should be gone through “difficult moments” while BTS was absent.

There have also been several controversies, such as the brand dispute between the Hit Girl Newjeans group and their agency, the allegations of ill-treatment by all-powerful agencies and the harassment of the stars of fans and trolls.

“Album sales have started to drop, and some problems – like questions about companies that do the right thing – have appeared,” said Ms. Park. Because of all this, she adds, we have seen more “deeper problems in the K-Pop industry”.

This is also why so many people look forward to the return of BTS, hoping that this will bring renewed energy – and perhaps even a way to follow for industry.

“Their return will help people focus again on Korea’s music scene,” said Ms. Park, adding that a BTS meeting is excellent not only for their fans but also for the Korean soft power.

All eyes are now on the next song of the group.

“I will quickly make an album and I will come back on stage,” said RM, the group’s leader, the day he was released.

But a new group album may not arrive before the start of next year because J-Hope has always planned national concerts, and Jin should organize concerts for fans around the world in the coming months. It is also possible that Suga, who landed in controversy after being captured by driving a scooter last year, may be able to stay low for a while.

For millions of fans like Stephanie, however, the simple fact of knowing that BTS is back together is sufficient – for the moment.

“We will have the impression that nothing has ever changed. Kings are back.”