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Culture March 20, 2026

BTS returns from hiatus with highly anticipated 5th album ‘Arirang’

WATCH: By the Numbers: BTS military service

BTS, the South Korean K-pop supergroup, is back from a yearslong hiatus with a highly anticipated fifth album called "Arirang," which dropped Friday.

The band also released a music video for "Swim," their new single off "Arirang." The video, starring actress Lili Reinhart, has already picked up more than 19 million views on YouTube and counting.

"'ARIRANG' is an album that embodies the origin and identity of BTS and carries the message that they want to convey now," Hybe Corp., the parent company of the group's management agency, told The Associated Press.

The band took a break four years ago in order for its members to complete mandatory military service in South Korea.

BTS is scheduled to perform a free concert -- their first live performance in years -- in South Korean capital Seoul on Saturday, with thousands of fans expected to attend. The concert will also be livestreamed across the world on Netflix.

BTS is kicking off an 82-date "Arirang" world tour on April 9 that will run until March 2027.