K-pop group BTS have officially confirmed their long-awaited comeback, with a new album set for release on 20 March, marking the group’s return as a complete seven-member lineup after nearly four years.
The announcement was made by the group’s management label BigHit Music on their social media account in a post titled ‘20 March comeback confirmed,’ and will officially see all seven members reunite after completing mandatory military service in South Korea.
In October last year, Bloomberg reported that the South Korean septet, composed of RM, J in, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook, had been working on their group album.
The new album will be their first since the 2022 anthology Proof, and the 2020 studio album Be. The band last performed together at their concert in Busan in October 2022, following which BigHit Music, the HYBE subsidiary that manages the group, announced that all seven members would fulfil their mandatory military service.
Before BigHit Music confirmed the comeback, the members had teased their return through printed copies of handwritten letters that were sent to select members of the group’s devoted fanbase, known as ARMY.
In the letters, RM wrote in Korean that he had been “waiting for (this comeback) more than anyone else”, and Jimin wrote that the “year we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived”.
BTS went on hiatus after they announced in late 2022 that they would begin fulfilling South Korea’s mandatory military service , starting with Jin, the eldest member, who enlisted in December that year. J-Hope followed in April 2023, Suga began his service that September, and the remaining members enlisted together in December 2023.
Jin and J-Hope were discharged in 2024, and June 2025 saw the end of military service for the five BTS members.
Since 2022, the band members have focused on various solo projects, both before and after returning from their military service.
“I’ve greeted you as a solo artist over the past two years and now I finally get to greet you again as part of the team,” Jin wrote in his letter, having recently wrapped up his global solo tour.
BTS has been teasing their comeback since the members all returned, with the first official confirmation that they were working on an album made back in July last year. In a livestream on the online fan platform WeVerse, frontman RM announced that the group was “planning to release a new group album next spring”.
“Starting in July, all seven of us will gather and begin preparations. Since this is a full-group album, it will reflect everyone’s thoughts. We’re approaching it with the mindset of going back to our roots,” he added.
“We’re planning a world tour to go along with the new album. We’ll be visiting different parts of the world, so please look forward to it.”
BTS debuted in 2013 under the then-independent Big Hit Entertainment, standing out in South Korea’s tightly managed idol system with a mix of self-produced music and social commentary. Their early work tackled themes like academic pressure, identity, and mental health, helping the group build a devoted online following.
Commercial success followed with the 2016 album Wings and the 2017 single “DNA”, which became the first Korean boy band track to enter the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2020, their English-language single “Dynamite” debuted at No 1, making them the first all-South Korean act to top the chart.
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