When pop superstars BTS announced a temporary hiatus in 2022, it exposed a tension at the heart of their global success.
As I wrote at the time, the world’s biggest K-pop group had become entangled in South Korea’s competing priorities: cultural soft power on the one hand, and its national security obligations on the other.
Now, nearly four years later, the Netflix documentary BTS: The Return takes fans behind the scenes as they prepared for their much-anticipated comeback. Directed by Bao Nguyen, the documentary follows the group’s reunion after completing mandatory military service and the making of their new album, Arirang.
