It was only possible because of BTS... The military enlistment period was filled with the individuality of the seven members

The enlistment of JIN, the oldest member in December 2022, marked the beginning of a gap period due to the official military service of ‘BTS’, but their void is not felt anywhere. The presence of ‘BTS’ became rather large in the diverse content relay of the seven members.

Each member's individuality is embedded in the sound sources and contents that they prepared in advance of their enlistment; J-HOPE's special album ‘HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1’, released in March this year, was based on the theme of street dance, which is his core. It was the most J-HOPE-like album in the sense that he looked back on his past and depicted his future based on street dance, which is an artistic root and inspiration.

Famous for his interest in a variety of art forms regardless of genre, RM also broke down boundaries in music and tried something different. The credits of his second solo album ‘Right People, Wrong Place’ include many names that are difficult to find in the idol scene. He completed his fresh music in collaboration with various musicians, including Sanyawn from Balming Tiger, Kim Han-ju from the band Silica Gel, the American jazz duo DOMi & JD BECK and Oh Hyuk-hyuk from the band Hyukoh.

V prepared the digital single ‘Winter Ahead (with PARK HYO SHIN)’ with his usual close friend Park Hyo Shin, and the song, which will be released at 2pm on the 29th December, is based on jazz, V's usual favourite music, and is expected to give a strong sense of his musical colour. On the 6th December at 2pm, he will unveil ‘White Christmas (with V of BTS)’, a newly created duet with legendary pop artist Bing Crosby. Once again, we can confirm his consistent taste in terms of releasing a song perfect for winter at each end of the year.

Songs are not all that ‘BTS’ have prepared. They presented various forms of content during their gap period, including pop-ups, films, exhibitions and travel variety shows. It is surprising that it is possible to set up all of these many things before enlisting in the army.

J-HOPE released ‘HOPE ON THE STREET VOL.1’, a documentary of the same name about street dance. At the same time, they ran the ‘’HOPE ON THE STREET‘ POP-UP’ where dance workshops were held so that fans could directly experience and enjoy the album's message.

RM, JUNG KOOK and SUGA visited fans with a film dealing with the album production diary and the behind-the-scenes of their solo tour. In particular, the documentary ‘RM: Right People, Wrong Place’, which incorporates the troubles between ‘BTS’ leader and solo artist RM and human Kim Namjoon, attracted so much attention that it was invited to the 29th Busan International Film Festival in October.

JIMIN and JUNG KOOK comforted their fans' loneliness with an exhibition that included the process of their solo activities. The exhibition displayed the costumes and in-ears they wore during their solo activities, as well as unpublished contents. The two also participated in a travel variety show called ‘Are You Sure? a travel variety show. The programme allows viewers to see the candid images of the two as they travelled to the US, Jeju and Sapporo to make memories before enlisting in the military.

So far, the past ‘BTS’ has prepared the contents, but now it's time to meet the present ‘BTS’. JIN and J-HOPE have recently been discharged from the military and can now communicate with ‘BTS’ in real time. JIN started his enthusiastic activities immediately after his discharge, appearing in various variety shows, including his own content ‘Run Seokjin’. On the 15th, he released his first solo album ‘Happy’ and held a fan showcase. He released his first solo album ‘Happy’ on the 15th and held a fan showcase and a fan autograph session, increasing his contacts with fans.

On the 17th of last month, J-HOPE said at the Weverse Live held immediately after his discharge from the military, "I will show you a good figure for a long time to come. I have decided to some extent what kind of activities I will do." He completed his official schedule by taking part in the first pitch of the second round of the Korean series on the 23rd October, and has recently raised expectations about his future plans to head to the US.

For idols, the void is a glacial period. Since they are invisible, interest gradually wanes and this leads to fandom disengagement. It is also not easy to make a comeback immediately after a discharge due to rapidly changing trends. This is because they need time to regain their so-called senses. However, ‘BTS’ was able to minimise fandom desertion thanks to the content they had faithfully prepared, and the members who had taken off their military uniforms chose to make a quick comeback for their fans.

In this atmosphere, it is perhaps natural to have high expectations for ‘BTS’ after all members are discharged from the military next year. The synergistic effect that will occur when they are united as one, having grown even more through their solo activities, will be beyond imagination.