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“We’ll be releasing a new BTS album in the spring of next year.
Starting in July, all seven of us will begin working closely
together on new music,” the band said in a statement. “Since it
will be a group album, it will reflect each member’s thoughts
and ideas. We’re approaching the album with the same mindset we
had when we first started.”
According to a press release, the band will be in the United
States this month to begin working on new music.
The 2026 album will mark their first since 2022's anthology,
“Proof,” their 2021 Japanese compilation album “BTS, the Best,”
and their last studio album, “Be,” released in 2020.
They also announced a world tour, their first in nearly four
years. The news arrives a few weeks after BTS superstars RM, V,
Jimin and Jung Kook were discharged from South Korea’s military
after fulfilling their mandatory service.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required
by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a
conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North
Korea. Six of the group’s seven members served in the army,
while Suga, the last to return, fulfilled his duty as a social
service agent, an alternative to military service.
Jin, the oldest BTS member, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope
was discharged in October.
South Korea's law gives special exemptions to athletes,
classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other
dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions
and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars
and other entertainers aren’t subject to such privileges.
However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service after South
Korea’s National Assembly revised its Military Service Act,
allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until age 30.
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