Days after South-Korean boy band BTS announced its hiatus to focus on solo projects, it’s eldest member Jin took to Instagram and posted a shirtless picture of himself flaunting the group’s new tattoo ‘7’.
BTS leader RM commented, “Oh, I was shocked. I Thought you weren’t wearing pants either," to which Jin replied, “Then it’s a crime."
Meanwhile J-Hope wrote, "holy moly."
BTS, which stands for Bangtan Sonyeondan, is known for hit Korean songs such as "Black Swan", "Boy With Luv", and "Life Goes On" as well as English singles "Dynamite" and "Butter".
The news of BTS going on a break came as a huge shock to their army of fans who took to social media to express their disappointment.
In a statement, Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS, clarified that the group was not going on a hiatus.
"To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats."
Days after the announcement, BTS' new compilation album 'Proof' granted the powerhouse their sixth No. 1 album to debut atop the Billboard 200 chart.
The album, released June 10, is a three-disc compilation with a large majority of its contents being previously released material.
'Proof' also features three all-new tracks, including 'Yet to Come (The Most Beautiful Moment)', which entered at No.1 on the Billboard's Global-Excluding-US chart, extending BTS' own record for a 17th week top Billboard's Global-Excluding-US chart.
In 2020, at the height of BTS' success, the South Korean government revised the country's military law that requires able-bodied South Korean men to perform approximately two years of military service.
The revised law allows top K-pop stars - including Jin, the oldest member of BTS - to defer their military service until they turn 30 if they've received government medals for heightening the country's cultural reputation and apply for the postponement. All BTS members meet the criteria as recipients of government medals in 2018.
Jin, 29, is expected to enlist this year unless he receives an exemption.
