SEOUL, March 16 — Making megastars BTS do their South Korean military service is slowing the global growth of K-pop, the chairman of the septet’s agency HYBE said Wednesday.
Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE and the mastermind behind BTS, said figures — including global ratings and album sales — now showed declining demand for K-pop.“I think it’s very clear that the fact BTS is not active as a team is playing the biggest role in bringing about this change in numbers,” he told a forum in Seoul.
He was accused of a hostile takeover and seeking to monopolise K-pop, but Bang defended his move as a solution to K-pop’s slowing growth.HYBE announced last month that a second BTS member, J-Hope, has “initiated the military enlistment process”, with local media reporting he was due to enlist in April.
They have been invited to speak at the United Nations, and to meet US President Joe Biden at the White House.