Rolling Stone recently announced BTS as the cover stars for its May issue — a major project featuring a total of eight cover versions, including one group cover and seven individual covers for each member. This is considered the largest number of alternate covers ever released for a single issue in Rolling Stone’s nearly 60-year history.

Beyond the photo spreads and written interviews, Rolling Stone has also released a series of exclusive video interviews with the group and individual members, published sequentially from the 13th to the 20th. In the first few days, fans were able to watch conversations with the group and leader Kim Nam-joon. Most recently, on the 15th, attention turned to the individual interview between Kim Seok-jin and senior writer Brian Hiatt.

In this conversation, Jin directly addressed for the first time a topic that had previously sparked major controversy within the fan community: the fact that he had no songwriting credits on the album Arirang, which marked BTS’s recent comeback.

Specifically, Brian Hiatt asked bluntly whether it was possible that Jin had participated in writing many songs that ultimately did not make the album. Jin responded candidly: “I haven’t talked about this anywhere else, but the truth is I didn’t write any of the songs because I was still on my solo tour at the time.” He continued, “When I arrived at the studio, there were a hundred-soмєтнing songs already made. So then I test recorded the best of them. And that took about 7–10 days. Once that was done, the whole process was over.”

Not stopping there, Jin also explained for the first time that his absence from the songwriting credits was due to overlapping schedules between his personal commitments and the group’s plans. His solo tour had been scheduled in advance, before the album recording timeline was finalized — a schedule that BTS could not further delay due to their goal of making a comeback in spring 2026.

In that context, the best decision for both Jin and BTS was to continue the tour to maintain a connection with fans, while the other members focused on songwriting. “I was worried our fans would be bored while everyone was in the military, so there I was soothing the hearts of our fans. Meanwhile, all of the songs got made,” he said.

When Brian Hiatt commented that the album was already very good but could have been even better with Jin’s songwriting contributions, the singer did not deny it. However, Jin emphasized that the other members had done a beautiful job, and that delaying the entire project just for him to add credits would not have been reasonable. He stated: “If I had been greedy and pushed the whole session just so I could add my own songs, this interview would be happening months from now. Wouldn’t the fans be too bored during that time? Sure, I’m a little bummed, but there’s more to life than just the present—there’s the future.”

At the same time, he made his perspective clear, saying: “I believe there will always be more opportunities. So, I’m a little disappointed, but that was the best choice I could make at the time.”

This marks the first time Jin has directly expressed his honest thoughts on this topic since the album Arirang was released last month. At the time, there had been controversy surrounding the fact that all members except Jin were credited on the album’s songs. Although the members had previously hinted that schedule conflicts prevented his participation in songwriting, negative speculation still persisted, with some criticizing Jin and others criticizing the remaining members.

Now, with Jin’s direct explanation, fans can better understand that this was an unavoidable situation for both him and the group. There was no better alternative, and in hindsight, these decisions have still resulted in a strong outcome.

In fact, BTS members have consistently acknowledged Jin’s efforts during his solo activities. In a talk show appearance with Moon Sang Hoon, RM expressed appreciation for how Jin and Jung Ho-seok worked tirelessly to promote and uphold the group’s presence while other members were temporarily absent. Ultimately, each BTS member contributes to the group in different ways, and their contributions hold equal value.

On the other hand, Jin also reaffirmed that group activities remain his top priority in the exclusive Rolling Stone feature. He stated firmly: “I've always thought there's no reason to continue if it's not with the group. I guess a solo career is just not that important to me. If I did anything, it would be trying soмєтнing different within the group when the fans are bored.”

With these sincere and candid remarks, Jin not only clarified a past controversy but also demonstrated his deep commitment to BTS. At this point, many fans believe that this topic of debate should finally be put to rest:

- Finally he clarified all the misinformation spread. Good that the whole story is clear now. Now we should start moving on and support him in his endeavours

- Whether you wrote the songs or not, you gave them life with your voice & your heart. That’s what makes them meaningful. we’re always proud of you!

- I think more people (on ALL sides) should be more grateful to seokjin and his hard work and thank him more

- He as usual chose to be a bigger person, even though he was disappointed. And all army was saying he was tired and he didn’t want to. I’m happy he is saying it out loud. For people in the back.

- He started by saying he hadn't talked about this anywhere, so he read through all the reasons you gave and began to clarify. Stop making up this topic here

- I sincerely hope no member will ever be put in a situation like this again. Jin's tour and ARIRANG album has been so good, it's enough

- If you were in that situation, you wouldn’t even know what to do yourself. Just look at the present—Jin was able to complete his solo tour, and BTS made a successful comeback with Arirang and their tour. What could have been a better decision than that?