Jin Hit News in English

  Original article:  Naver The title track of BTS's fifth full-length comeback album ARIRANG is "SWIM," written by the group's leader, RM. BigHit Entertainment explained that the song conveys "the determination to keep moving forward without stopping amid the waves of life, and to calmly swim through the incoming currents at one's own pace."  Is it merely a coincidence—or part of a long-term vision he had a decade ago? Around 10 years ago, RM already had an idea that could be seen as the seed of "Swim" in an interview with Sports Kyunghyang. BTS appeared as exclusive interviewees in the outlet's 12th anniversary special issue dated May 16, 2017. At the time, BTS were in the midst of their second world tour, The Wings Tour . Marking roughly four years since their debut, the members were asked what they might be doing 10 years later, imagining what their lives would be like if they had not become BTS. RM, who was then promoting under the stag...

  Original article:  Naver ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ HYBE: "Please refrain from political interpretations" ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Ahead of BTS's performance at Gwanghwamun, the Seoul Metropolitan Government's decision to illuminate major landmarks in red has sparked controversy over possible political interpretations. The timing—coinciding with The upcoming local elections—has led to criticism that the color choice evokes a specific political party. According to the music industry in the 18th, Seoul plans to light up 15 major landmarks—including Sebitseom, Cheonggyecheon, Seoul Botanic Park, Namsan Seoul Tower, and Lotte World Tower—in red for about two hours starting at 7:30 p.m. on the 20th, the day of BTS's comeback, and the 21st, the day of the concert. However, the plan has unexpectedly stirred debate, as Red is also the symbolic colour of the opposition party. BTS's official color, in contrast, is not red but purple. The color purp...

The upcoming comeback of BTS with their album ARIRANG is shaping up to be the largest-scale project of their career. It is no longer just a simple music release, but has evolved into a full-fledged global campaign involving a lineup of major media giants such as HYBE, Netflix, Spotify, Google, and Apple Music—with even the Seoul Metropolitan Government taking part. Among them, Netflix has emerged as a particularly notable partner by collaborating with BTS on the program "BTS Comeback Live : Arirang," which is set to be broadcast live from Gwanghwamun Square to more than 190 countries and territories. This marks the first time the platform has streamed a global-scale live event from South Korea, signalling a new step forward in its content strategy. Notably, even Hamish Hamilton—often dubbed a "master of live staging" and known for directing major global events such as the London 2012 Olympics, the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and Super Bowl Halftime shows—has been brough...

  In an interview, Jin once opened a out his relationship with those around him and significantly changed after becoming a top K-pop superstar. "There's a lot of pressure to meet up with people. I haven’t changed, but my friends find it difficult to be around me. I’ve lost a lot of people around me.” In reality, neither Jin, RM, not any BTS member has ever acted arrogant or flaunted their fame in a way that would make others feel distant. However, it's undeniable that becoming K-pop idols naturally created a gap between them and their friends—or even family. Many people may feel hesitant to approach them for various reasons: discomfort with lifestyle differences, fame, public attention, or even fear of fan backlash. One example of this dynamic was revealed through the relationship between RM and his cousin, Seo Jiyeon, a talented young MMA fighter. She was also known by the nickname Magikarp and Honey Bee during her time as a professional boxer. Starting in 2017, she began...

  Ahead of the release of BTS's fifth studio album ARIRANG, more intriguing details surrounding one of the most anticipated projects of the year continue to emerge. In addition to the logo, album title, tracklist, and the star-studded lineup of songwriters and producers that were previously revealed, fans have recently gained a clearer understanding of the historical concept that BTS and BigHit Music aim to convey through the animation trailer.  Along with the release of the animation trailer, fans were also surprised when a veteran producer who collaborated with BTS on the album—Picard Brothers—revealed that part of the melody from the first B-side track on ARIRANG had actually been headed through the music snippets heard in the trailer.  Alongside the animated trailer, BTS also unveiled their first group photos for the ARIRANG album. In these images, the members appear elegant and polished in tailored suits, reminiscent of the seven young men featured in the story depic...

  For longtime ARMYs, Nicole Kim is not an unfamiliar name. She is widely known for serving as BTS's interpreter at many international events, behind-the-scenes programs, and especially during the group's meetings with famous Western artists such as Charlie Puth and MAX. Kim rarely appears in public. One of the most notable occasions was when she accompanied V to a CELINE event in 2022, where fans were able to clearly see her elegant appearance and professional demeanor as she assisted the idol in conversations with executives from the luxury fashion brand. Although fans often refer to her as BTS's interpreter, Nicole Kim's actual role at Big Hit Music from 2017 to 2022 was Director of A&R and Creative Director at HYBE, as well as Head of Creative for BTS. In December 2022, she left HYBE and began a new role at Columbia Records as Vice President, managing world-renowned artists such as Beyoncé, Adele, Pharrell Williams, Harry Styles, Rosalia, The Kid Laroi, and Lil ...