K-pop boyband BTS returned to the stage after an almost four-year long hiatus due to Korea’s mandatory military service with a comeback concert in the Korean capital city of Seoul. Having debuted in 2013 and grown into a globally renowned sensation, the impact of the group’s hiatus and return has been felt worldwide — even at The University of Alabama.
Many students on campus have been a part of ARMY, the BTS fanbase, for years. Overall, they were glad for the group’s return and eager to listen to its new album, “ARIRANG.” MJ Crowe, a sophomore majoring in nursing and member of ARMY since 2019, was happy to hear the news of BTS’s 2026 comeback.
“They kept their promises,” she said. “After four years of being in the military, they came back. It shows me they’re really authentic and true of themselves.”
While fans of the group were excited about the comeback, many had mixed reactions to “ARIRANG.” Lis Beattie, a freshman majoring in social work and member of ARMY since 2016, felt that the album did not truly represent the group she remembered.
“It’s not distinctly them,” she said. “I could hear other artists on some of those songs, and it just kind of doesn’t really feel like it’s their style.”
Beattie also mentioned the heavy inclusion of “language that is not their own,” given that many producers of the album were Black and included African American Vernacular English. Overall, she said that she can appreciate that BTS collaborated on the lyrics with Black artists.
Brennan Toney, a sophomore majoring in graphic design and member of HallyUA, the University’s K-pop cover group, said that BTS’s comeback meant “resilience” to her.
“I was really, really excited to see that they decided to kind of lean into the concept of ‘ARIRANG,’” she said. Toney said she felt that the album did a service to commemorating the K-pop industry in the western world as well.
“[Arirang] is about the journey and hardships that Koreans and Korean-Americans have to face when pursuing music in a western world, or they’re pursuing something that’s not necessarily their home culture,” she said.
Despite differing reactions to the group’s album, fans of BTS share an attraction to the members’ honesty and openness with their fans, which was a common theme in this comeback and album release, especially after their four-year absence.
“I stayed for their personalities,” Crowe said. “You can tell that they really care about their fans.”
