BTS will return as a complete seven-member group in March 2026, marking the end of a hiatus that started in 2022 when the members entered mandatory military service.
The timeline was reported by The Korea Herald on Wednesday (June 18), citing a source’s confirmation from a HYBE official.
“BTS’ comeback date is set for March next year,” the official reportedly said.
The report comes as Suga, the final member to serve, is set to complete his 18-month military service on Saturday (June 21). His discharge will officially end the chapter on the group’s military commitments, allowing them to resume activities as a group.
Over a week ago, RM and V were discharged from the military in Chuncheon City, South Korea, after joining in December 2023, according to multiple news outlets out of South Korea and overseas.
BTS’s oldest member, Jin, was discharged in June 2024, while J-Hope finished his service in October 2024. Meanwhile, Jimin and Jung Kook are reportedly set to complete their service on June 11.
“BTS’ comeback date is set for March next year.”
HYBE official
News about BTS’s imminent comeback sent HYBE’s stock to a three-year high on June 10 to KRW 309,000 ($225). The stock has since eased to KRW 304,000 ($221) on Wednesday (June 18).
Meanwhile, another source told The Korea Herald: “While the exact date is unknown, I think it will be mid-March. I heard BTS is returning in the same month as their brother group Tomorrow X Together.”
“It could be BTS first, then TXT — or the other way around.”
The nine-month preparation window is in line with statements from HYBE CEO Lee Jae-sang during the company’s March shareholder meeting. At the time, Lee said: “We’re preparing alongside top-tier producers, but the artists also need time to reflect and prepare.”
Enhypen, managed by HYBE subsidiary Belift Lab, moved their planned March comeback to January to avoid conflicts with BTS activities, another source reportedly told The Korea Herald.
Ahead of the reported return, Jin, the group’s eldest member who completed his service in June last year, is set to kick off his solo fan concert tour, Runseokjin_EP.Tour, beginning June 28-29 in Goyang, Gyeonggi province. The tour spans 18 performances across nine cities — including Chiba and Osaka in Japan, Anaheim, Dallas, Tampa and Newark in the US — through August 10.
Jin and J-Hope, who also returned to civilian life in 2024, have released solo projects since HYBE went on hiatus, while maintaining limited public appearances.
On May 16, Jin released his second solo album, titled Echo. He partnered with TikTok last month for a campaign introducing multiple in-app experiences on the platform. In November last year, Jin also partnered with the ByteDance-owned platform on a multimedia campaign in support of his first solo album, Happy.
Jimin also dropped two albums while BTS was in hiatus. He released Face in March 2023 and Muse in July 2024. Jimin also teamed up with TikTok on an in-app hub to promote Muse last year.
News of BTS’s break as a group in 2022 rattled investors, with the company’s shares falling by around 25% that day, wiping around $1.5 billion from HYBE’s market cap value in the process.
With the group’s absence, HYBE’s operating profit dropped 37.5% YoY to KRW 184.82 billion ($135.55 million) in FY 2024, which the company attributed to, among other factors, “BTS‘ temporary break.”
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