This group is so influential with part of the globalized youth that it has just been received at the White House by President Joe Biden to denounce anti-Asian racism in the United States.

The announcement of this break, which had the effect of a bomb, was made during a dinner broadcast online to mark the ninth anniversary of the group formed by seven artists in their twenties and who recorded annual revenue of more than $1 billion in 2021, driven by online content and album sales.

BTS is also seen as a pump to generate billions of dollars in spinoffs for their country, South Korea.

One of the seven from BTS, "RM", 27, explained that after several nominations for the Grammy Awards, the awards of the American music industry, they "did not know what group they were forming" anymore, adding that some members were "exhausted".

"Star system"

"I always thought that BTS was different from other groups (...) but the problem with K-pop and the whole + star system + is that you don't have time to mature", has continued the young man to millions of fans and the global music industry.

“RM” pointed out that as a group, BTS “must keep producing music and doing something.”

"In ten years, I have changed and I need to reflect and have time for myself", concluded the artist.

One of his co-stars, 26-year-old Jimin (Park Ji-min), didn't say anything else, saying at that dinner that he and his six young co-artists were "little by little trying to figure out" what happened to them and to "reflect on the memory that each wanted to leave to their fans".

Jimin, who spoke in Korean and whose remarks were captioned in English on a video, added that BTS "was going through a difficult period, (that he) was looking for (his) identity, a long and exhausting process".

At the end of the dinner, some of the seven young men - authors of the hits "Dynamite" and "Butter" - crushed a few tears and expressed their gratitude to their fans, grouped under the banner of "army".

South Korean group BTS on the red carpet at the 64th Grammy Awards in Las Vegas on April 3, 2022 ANGELA WEISS AFP/Archives

"Need for change"

BTS, which has just released an anthology album ("Proof"), had already announced "breaks" in 2019 and 2021.

But this time, the group "needs a change" and wants to "start a new chapter", hammered J-Hope, another member of the septet.

South Korean artists, in dark tie suits and white shirts, were invited by President Biden to the White House on May 31 to denounce racism against Asians in the United States.

The US presidency said it sees BTS as "ambassadors of youth who spread a message of hope and optimism" to the world.

The group had already been invited twice to address the United Nations, in 2018 and 2021, in particular about climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

© 2022 AFP