Does Bangtan Sonyeondan ring a bell? Bulletproof Boyscouts? Or does the name BTS feel more familiar? No matter what you know or call them, they are a global sensation. From what we can see, 2026 brings big things for BTS and ARMY (BTS’ fandom name). The world renowned, record-breaking boy group with millions of fans is officially back. After all 7 members served in the army over the past few years, they are coming back with a new era and tour, and ARMYs around the world have had opinions.
In South Korea all men are required by law to serve 18-21 months in military service. Since 2022, starting with the eldest, Jin, the members of Bangtan have all been going to serve their time in the South Korean Armed Forces. As of June 2025, all BTS members have completed their required months in the military, and announced their comeback as a group. Although they have been releasing songs as a solo career from 2022 to now, ARMYS now get to have more group content from now on. While the members of BTS came back in the summer of last year, their true return is starting now.
Revealed in the beginning of this year, we found out that they would be coming out with an album named ‘Arirang’ on March 20 of 2026. Arirang is a Korean folk song sung in some cases to represent the relationship between North and South Korea and how there must be some love or bridges made in between, showcasing Bangtan’s pride in nationality once again. Arirang was also sang in 1896 by 7 Korean men studying in America, which also were one of the original recordings of Koreans in America. So we can predict there will be another big message for this new album, tour, and era. With producers who we know are working on the new album, ARIRANG, praising it, Ryan Tedder says working on BTS’ new album is one of the most incredible projects of his career, has us ARMY waiting in suspense for the new album. In late January of 2026, they started ticket sales for their new world tour, resulting in ARMYS rushing to get a seat.
Within a few hours, all seats at the BTS concerts were sold out, leaving everyone flocking to social media to scream about their victory or sad defeat in the ticket war. Although BTS released tickets in separate quantities to allow more people to get a chance, of course not everyone was able to get a ticket. Shortly after concerts were announced, the President of Mexico stated to the press that she requested the President of South Korea to have BTS perform more concerts in Mexico than just their planned 3 concerts in Mexico. In early February it was revealed to ARMYS that there would be a brand new lightstick for their new tour! This announcement came alongside the fact that all previous lightsticks will no longer function the same at concerts, causing an uproar in the fans. Some are devastated they have to buy a new one to have it synchronized with the concert but others are standing their ground and keeping their old ones without buying new ones. Jessica Arevalo, a k-pop fan who isn’t too into BTS states her opinion on the light stick situation saying, “I feel like that’s not the fault of BTS themselves. That’s more of just the company. I feel like that’s very money hungry of them. But then again, I feel like that’s a given for any K-pop industry company out there.”
While the weeks before the release of ARIRANG will be infuriating, we can enjoy teasers and the release of their setlist along with producers. Even our own English Department’s Ms. Cohen who has been a fan for around 8 years says “I am really excited I literally can not believe we are post military like I didn’t think this day would come,” and shares that she will be attending the comeback concert. Although most likely we won’t be hearing the men of BTS talk more about their recent time in the military, we are able to watch the group flourish in this new era, and watch the world’s reaction unfold as well.
