BTS to Reunite as a Full Group for 12th Anniversary…Scheduled to Return with a New Studio Album in March 2026, Expected to Revitalize K-Pop Market

All seven members of BTS have completed their military service and reunited as a full group. Approximately 60,000 fans attended the “BTS 2025 Festa” (12th anniversary event) held on the 13th and 14th at InTEX Expo Center 2 in Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, a significantly larger turnout than the previous year’s event. The event featured around 20 booths, including DIY activities, photo zones, and additional photo spots at Ilsan Lake Park in Goyang City. The highlight of the commemorative event was two encore concerts from member j-hope’s solo world tour, “Hope on the Stage.” At the first concert on the 13th, all seven BTS members appeared together, with Jin and Jung Kook joining j-hope on stage to perform solo songs and BTS tracks. Jin performed “Don’t Say You Love Me” solo, Jung Kook performed “Seven (feat. Latto)” solo, and the three of them performed “Jamais Vu” together. RM, V, Jimin, and Jung Kook were discharged this week after completing their military service, while j-hope and Jin had already finished theirs. SUGA, who is serving as a community service officer, attended the event but has not yet officially been discharged. HYBE announced that SUGA is expected to be discharged soon. The K-Pop industry is closely watching BTS’s long-awaited return. According to HYBE’s official spokesperson, BTS is scheduled to make a full-group comeback in March 2026. Industry insiders expect that a pre-release single or other projects might appear before the release of the studio album. BTS’s last full-group activity was the anthology album “Proof” released in June 2022, marking their first new music release as a full group in about four years. With the K-Pop market currently in a downturn, BTS’s return is expected to boost activity across the industry. Major girl groups from the Big 4 entertainment companies, including aespa, TWICE, and BLACKPINK, are also scheduled to make comebacks in the second half of this year and next year. aespa will release a new physical single titled “Dirty Work” on July 27 and hold a world tour at the Seoul Olympic Gymnastics Stadium from August 29 to 31. TWICE will release its fourth studio album, “This is For,” on July 11 and perform as headliners at Lollapalooza in Chicago on August 2. BLACKPINK’s comeback is also planned, suggesting a full recovery for the K-Pop market.