There are only about 80 days left until the remaining 5 members of BTS complete their military service. This also means that the day BTS returns as a 7-member group is not far away.
On this day, fans' expectations for the group to return in 2025 are increasing. It has been 3 years since BTS last performed their group activities and even j-hope expressed his excitement in his latest interview for this moment.
On social media, fans are in a state of chaos as they make many speculations about the Kpop superstar's comeback.
Specificially, the new project BTS 7 Moments - providing insight into each member's experience during their solo activities, recently announced by HYBE, has further heightened the debate with new revelations regarding the timing of BTS's comeback.
On April 3, BIGHIT MUSIC dropped new content of BTS 7 Moments for official ARMYs with Weverse digital memberships. The new snippets are available for fans to purchase.
A few eagle-eyed fans have taken screenshots of what they consider a hint about group's anticipated comeback and shared it online. A screenshot of the file containing the seven videos shows that each video is 8 minutes and 28 seconds long.
Fans interpreted this as a hint that BTS will release group content on August 28 (8/28). Meanwhile, the group clip is 7:50, BTS debuted in 2013 and now is 2025, that means 12 years has pαѕѕed. It means 7+5+0 = 12.
ARMYs pointed out that the group had promised to release soмєтнing together to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa, the group's iconic three-part album series on the theme of youth. Most agree that the group will likely release some new content or songs as they believe that releasing a comeback album within a month of their discharge seems unlikely.
On the other hand, another image includes an iPhone with j-hope's red HOPE ON THE STAGE wallpaper showing "June 28, 9:41 PM." This also fuels fan speculation that perhaps all seven members will reunite on stage on June 28, for an encore performance in Seoul.
Notably, j-hope's solo world tour will end at Kyocera Dome, Osaka, on June 1, 2025. Meanwhile, the encore (a common practice in most BTS and SUGA tours) for his solo tour has not been announced.
Both of these theories are consistent with the expectation that the members will complete their mandatory military service by June 21 this year.
In what context is the fan discussion more heated than ever:
- August 28th comeback??????
- Don't forget HYYH 10th anniversary project is this year
- NO. CAUSE WHAT IF ON HOPE ON THE STAGE ENCORE, ALL BTS MEMBERS WILL PERFORM MIC DROP??
- I'm very sure that we will receive an encore stage announcement at the end of the tour, just like yoongi's announcement. I think it will finish on june 1 and we will take the encore stage in seoul and the date is june 28. This is my opinion
- I don't think they'll have their comeback with new album this year, they've to start new era music wise too, they'll take new journey new stories oh my god just thinking about it make me feel goosebumps
- June 28th this year is not on a Wednesday, and I don't think the "wednesday" was unintentional
- I don't think so, August 28th us Thursday... BTS comebacks are always on Fridays
- Since we're clowning, maybe June 28th will be Hobi's encore concert in Seoul where upon BTS will come outta that red box to perform all the BTS songs with him on stage, reunited as 7.
- aug 28 makes more sense bc june 28 is too soon for them to have a comeback but it could also just be an event ??? anyways sat
- June 28- HOTS Seoul The Final and Aug 28.- Muster in Seoul???
While the fan discussions are so bustling, the actions of HYBE, BTS's management company, have been quite cautious. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, from HYBE's CFO Lee Kyung Joon to President Bang Si Hyuk, all implied that although they wanted the group to return soon, nothing had been confirmed.
Most recently, HYBE CEO Lee Jae Sang personally made an official statement at HYBE's annual shareholders' meeting about plans for BTS. He said: "BTS members are scheduled to return after completing their military service in the first half of this year, so they need time to prepare and work for their activities after their return. The company is also discussing and preparing with top-tier composers, but the artists need to think carefully and prepare."
"Usually, we work on songs, release albums, and then go on tour, but since BTS has already become a global top artist, we are continuing to discuss their vision and future plans, so we need to think about the direction and adjust accordingly", The CEO continued emphasizing what the company and BTS are prioritizing at this time.
