BTS shook the four corners of the K-pop world and surprised fans after announcing their hiatus and doing solo activities at their annual Festa Dinner on June 13. However, as some began to take the group's announcement out of context, resulting in assumptions that they're disbanding, RM and HYBE CEO cleared the air.
Sure, BTS had taken long breaks before, but their upcoming hiatus seemed to be different as they would focus on individual activities. So, did it mean the group would be disbanded?
AllKpop noted that as the group's leader, RM admitted he no longer knew which direction to take the group. He didn't know what to do after ON" and then COVID-19 began.
This made him realize that the group had changed. After releasing "Butter" and "Permission to Dance," he revealed he didn't know what kind of group they were anymore.
Their hiatus announcement didn't just surprise fans. It also dramatically affected HYBE's stock value, which drastically decreased.
It also resulted in speculations that BTS would disband. So in a lengthy letter on WeVerse, RM assured fans the group would not break.
In fact, they still often talk about the future and success as a group. He continued that they just told the truth in the "Festa Dinner" and he believed fans would understand them.
"Jungkook and V did explain it well, but we always openly talk about the long-term future of BTS," he said. He then promised they would always do their best as a group or solo artist.
Meanwhile, HYBE CEO Park Jiwon denied the claims that BTS is disbanding, per Koreaboo. He sent an internal email to the company's employees to clear the real situation.
He stressed that the hitmakers just expressed their desire to expand the range of their activities by combining group and individual activities so that they could all grow and mature. Sadly, portions of their discussion were blown out of proportion and wrongfully interpreted, resulting in the spread of false information.
He then cleared that BTS wasn't even considering disbanding. Their wish to grow individually didn't mean they would stop doing group activities.
"BTS's message of taking a break from group activities [to focus on individual activities] does not mean they will be completely stopping [group] activities," he said. This just meant that the scope of their activities would be carried out as a group and individual projects so that they could leap forward and grow as artists.
