ＢＴＳが活動休止、ソロ専念へ

【ソウルＡＦＰ＝時事】韓国の人気音楽グループ「ＢＴＳ（防弾少年団）」は１４日、ソロ活動に専念するため、無期限の活動休止に入ると発表した。（写真は米グラミー賞授賞式に出席したＢＴＳ）
　デビュー記念日を祝う毎年恒例のイベント「ＦＥＳＴＡ（フェスタ）」の動画配信で、メンバーのＲＭは、米グラミー賞にもノミネートされたシングルを数曲出した後、「もう自分たちがどんなグループなのか分からなくなった」といい、他のメンバーも「疲れ切ってしまった」と説明。
　ＢＴＳは他のグループとは違うとずっと思っていたものの「Ｋ－ＰＯＰやアイドルの構造全体にある問題点は、成熟するための時間を与えてくれないこと」と指摘し、「この１０年で人間的に変わったから、考えて一人きりの時間を持つ必要があった」などと語った。
　ジミンも、メンバーは今、ゆっくり考える時間を持ち、「それぞれがファンの記憶に残るようなアーティストになりたいと思い始めている」と語った。
　一方、ジェイホープは、「今必要なのは変化」としながらも、「自分たちの第２章を始めることは、ＢＴＳにとって重要」とし、グループとしての活動再開にも含みを持たせた。
　イベントでは、メンバーが夕食と酒を楽しみ、冗談を言い合いながら、グループの歴史を回想したほか、それぞれがソロ曲のレコーディングに取り組んでいることにも触れた。ジェイホープは今夏、米シカゴの音楽フェスティバル「ロラパルーザ」でヘッドライナーを務める予定。
　ＢＴＳは世界で人気を博し、韓国に数十億ドル（数千億円）の経済効果をもたらしたとされている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/15-11:23）

K-pop supergroup BTS on Tuesday announced they were taking an indefinite hiatus from one of the world's most popular acts to focus on solo pursuits.
The seven members, who are credited with generating billions of dollars for the South Korean economy, dropped the bombshell during their streamed annual FESTA dinner, part of a celebration that marks their anniversary as a group.
Member RM, 27, said that after the Grammy-nominated BTS' last few singles he didn't know what kind of group we were anymore, adding later that group members were exhausted.
I've always thought that BTS was different than other groups, he continued. But the problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don't give you time to mature.
You have to keep producing music and keep doing something... I've changed as a human over the past 10 years, so I needed to think and have some alone time, RM said.
Right now when we're at our best I feel like I should be contributing something to the world, but I don't know what that is.
Jimin, 26, said the members are slowly trying to figure things out now and that we're starting to think about what kind of artists we each want to be remembered by our fans.
I think that's why we're going through a rough patch right now, we're trying to find our identity and that's an exhausting and long process.
By the end of the dinner several of the members grew tearful as they voiced gratitude for their supporters, a fandom known online as the ARMY.
BTS has said they were going on short breaks before, first in 2019 and later in December 2021.
The news comes just days after the group released Proof, an anthology album that included a new single, Yet To Come (The Most Beautiful Moment).
J-Hope said that change is what we need right now but offered hope for the group's return by adding it's important for BTS to start our second chapter.
During the dinner that saw the members drink, joke and reflect on their history together, they said they were working on recording solo projects. J-Hope is slated to headline Chicago's Lollapalooza on his own later this summer.