BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan) is making its return as a complete seven-member group for the first time in 3 years and 9 months, rewriting the history of the global music market. Alongside the comeback, the production behind the regular album “ARIRANG” (5th album), revealed during a live broadcast celebrating the release, has drawn intense attention from fans.
In a live broadcast held on the global fan community platform Weverse on the 20th, BTS shared detailed insights into the process of working on the new album. Suga, mentioning the album’s credits, explained that—together with professional producer teams—every member took a leading role to complete BTS’s unique musical color.
What particularly caught fans’ attention was the reason Jin was left out of the credits. To raise the album’s overall quality, the members held a group song camp in the United States. However, with Jin being the first to finish his military service and already juggling a packed schedule such as his solo tour, he could only join a week before the end of the song camp—so it was revealed that, unfortunately, his name could not be added to the credits.
In response, members including RM and V expressed deep regret over the limited time Jin could participate. Jimin said, “Because Jin hyung kept the team so solidly, this full-group album was possible,” and voiced his heartfelt gratitude. Jin also replied, “I’m happy that so many great songs came out,” and footage of Jungkook patting Jin on the shoulder captured the members’ unchanged camaraderie.
BTS’s tight teamwork is translating into overwhelming performance. According to Hanteo Chart, South Korea’s largest album sales tracking site, the “ARIRANG” released on the 20th surpassed 4 million cumulative copies in just three days from release. Even more astonishing is that about 1 million copies were sold in roughly 10 minutes right after the release—breaking the record for the fastest-ever million-seller.
BTS, which racked up sales of 3.98 million copies on just the first day, easily beat the previous all-time best first-week record set by “MAP OF THE SOUL : 7” (3.37 million copies). The powerful synergy generated by the complete seven-member group is once again shaking up the landscape of the global music industry.
