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ARMY HANGOUT. Walls are decorated with pictures of K-pop band BTS at Yoojung Sikdang, a restaurant in Seoul where BTS members frequently ate during their trainee days, in Seoul, South Korea. The Seoul café and restaurant where BTS members spent time learning how to sing, dance, and perform are drawing visitors from around the globe during the band’s huge comeback. (AP Photo/Juwon Park)

From The Asian Reporter, V36, #4 (April 6, 2026), pages 3 & 8.

By Juwon Park

The Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea — A Seoul café and restaurant that once served as bases for BTS members when they were mere K-pop trainees are drawing visitors from around the globe during the band’s huge comeback.

A recent Friday stream of visitors to Café Hyuga, once a dormitory where band members stayed, included Evelyn Florntino, who flew from the Philippines where she was visiting family after failing to get tickets to the group’s tour dates in the United States. Instead, she attended the Seoul concert a day after the release of their fifth studio album, ARIRANG.

"Unfortunately (I) was not lucky to get a ticket," the Hawai‘i resident told The Associated Press. "So now I’m here in Korea to at least watch the free concert they’re doing."

Florntino, who had researched the café on Google, called it "humbling" to see the modest building wedged in a narrow alley of low-rise buildings in Gangnam — a wealthy district better known for its luxury high-rises and upscale boutiques.

Alejandra Valencia had travelled even farther, from Colombia, drawn by a deep personal connection. She credits the band with pulling her through a period of depression. "They saved me," Valencia said. "And the time flies, and now I am an ARMY," she said, referring to the group’s fan base.

A short walk away, at the restaurant Yoojung Sikdang, owner Jang Young Kun greeted visitors in a purple BTS hoodie — a gift from an Australian fan. The restaurant is in the building that housed BTS members’ old dance practice room.

"BTS was with us here in this building for about three to four years," said Jang, 78. "The basement was their practice room — they trained down there and really shared their everyday lives with us."

K-pop trainees are young hopefuls recruited by entertainment agencies and put through years of intensive singing, dancing, and performance training before they debut publicly — a system that shaped global K-pop bands like BTS, which debuted in 2013, and Blackpink, among others.

Jang recalled the members eating at his restaurant daily between practices. He also remembered the morning RM and Suga came upstairs to share some news.

"Namjoon (RM) told me the group had settled on a name — Bangtan Sonyeondan," Jang said. "I told them, ‘You’re going to blow up with that name. It’s Korean, it’s unique.’"

"The BTS boys were incredibly polite," Jang added. "They had such bright, warm personalities — if they saw you 10 times a day, they’d bow a full 90 degrees every single time. They were always greeting people, always cheerful, and they worked incredibly hard. They’d practice through the night, then come out and wash up in our bathroom, even dyeing their hair in there."

For fans Diana Meza and Claudia Leal, who travelled together from Monterrey, Mexico, the draw was straightforward.

"Their songs aren’t shallow — they all have an important meaning," said Leal, who has been a fan of the band for about five years. "We started liking them … first because they’re super good-looking," she said. "And then, because we loved everything."

The comeback concert streamed last month live on Netflix after a four-year break for the K-pop supergroup. It was expected to draw tens of thousands of fans to Gwanghwamun Square, one of South Korea’s most famous landmarks.

All seven members of the band recently completed mandatory military service.

BTS RETURNS. The game-changing K-pop boy band BTS has returned after a nearly four-year musical hiatus. ARIRANG, the 14-track, fifth studio album (pictured) from the septet — RM, Jin, Jimin, V, Suga, Jung Kook, and j-hope — is here. (Image courtesy of Big Hit Music)

From The Asian Reporter, V36, #4 (April 6, 2026), page 15.

By Maria Sherman

AP Music Writer

NEW YORK — The game-changing K-pop boy band BTS has returned after a nearly four-year musical hiatus. ARIRANG, the 14-track, fifth studio album from the septet — RM, Jin, Jimin, V, Suga, Jung Kook, and j-hope — is here. And it is appropriately massive.

ARIRANG — titled after a popular, traditional Korean folk song that touches on themes of longing, separation, and love — is a stadium-sized album that serves as both a reintroduction to the band and as a keen reminder of their place atop popular culture conversation. That’s evident from the jump: The first half pulls largely from trap and hip-hop, an energetic reminder of their early rap records. It’s an ode to where they came from and where they’re going — as immediately demonstrated in the opener "Body to Body," which works in a melody from the traditional "Arirang."

After the fiery block comes the short interlude "No. 29," a reverberating bell toll captured from the Divine Bell of King Seongdeok — South Korea’s largest extant bell, designated National Treasure No. 29 in 1962 — before a pop detour of various genre experiments.

The tagline for BTS’ comeback album is "born in Korea, playing for the world." It couldn’t be more fitting: Here, the septet utilize their familiar strengths and further their inventive spirit, bringing their country to a global audience eager to hear from them again.

To call it highly anticipated would be a gross understatement. ARIRANG is the band’s first original full-length release since all seven members completed South Korea’s mandatory military service. Not that it has been all quiet at team BTS: The band tiered their enlistments, giving ample time for its members to focus on solo projects while the group was on a break.

The time apart must’ve bolstered their hunger for composition and experimentation: According to a press release, leader RM is credited on every track save for the interlude. The others contributed, too: Suga and j-hope on a number of songs, including "Body to Body," "Merry Go Round," and "Normal"; Jimin with "They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us" and "Into the Sun." V was also involved in the latter as well as "2.0." Jung Kook was involved in four tracks, including "Hooligan."

There are a number of familiar names on the credits: Mike WiLL Made-It, Ryan Tedder, Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, and Diplo are among the listed producers, and their presence is known. The latter brings Jersey club to the energetic "FYA"; there’s a real joy in its boisterous lyrics: "Club go crazy like Britney, baby / Hit me with it one more time." Parker’s dreamy, psych-pop production is heard on "Merry Go Round"; BTS’ performance amplifies the producer’s signatures. "Normal" has echoes of Taylor Swift with a low-key hook; it leads to the distorted trip-hop and Pixies’ wistfulness of "Like Animals."

Then, a brief pivot back to the first half’s trap-pop. There’s the 808 bass of "They Don’t Know ‘Bout Us," a partner to the earlier track "2.0," before pivoting again and again: to the synth-y "One More Night," the R&B harmonies of "Please," and the acoustic, early morning closer "Into the Sun," that climbs to a resonant, rock ‘n’ roll coda. Zig, they zag.

With ARIRANG, BTS had big shoes to fill: their own. The group’s last album, 2020’s Be, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and featured some of their best-known hits, "Dynamite" and "Life Goes On." Here, on ARIRANG, there is no "Butter," no English-language bubblegum pop. Instead, there is a band atop the music world, returning to their throne on their own terms: with bilingual bangers and avant-garde ambitions.

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