At 11 a.m. on the 13th, BigHit Music uploaded an animated film carrying the message of the new album titled “ARIRANG” on the official social media channels of BTS. Notably, the video was inspired by a real historical event: the first recording of “Arirang” was made in Washington, U.S., in 1896.
The film concludes with an image of BTS—artists who deliver hope and comfort through music—standing proudly in front of Gwanghwamun Square. Based on these historical milestones, the project highlights BTS’s journey in helping promote кσяєαn culture to the world, evolving from a K-pop group into a global pop culture icon with international influence.
Along with the animated film, BTS also revealed the first group photo for the new album. The seven members appear elegant in suits, echoing the imagery of the seven characters featured in the animated video.
The first teasers related to the “ARIRANG” album quickly sparked excitement among fans worldwide. Amid the growing anticipation ahead of the group’s comeback, an υиєχρє¢тє∂ move by Jeon Jungkook further “added fuel to the fire.” On March 13, many ARMY noticed that the singer’s TikTok account had removed nearly all of the accounts he had previously been following.
According to fans’ observations, Jungkook had previously followed around 255 different accounts, including those of well-known K-pop groups such as Stray Kids and TOMORROW X TOGETHER, as well as numerous artists, dancers, TikTokers, and other creators. However, his following list now includes only two accounts: the official BTS account and that of j-hope.
Many fans believe this could be part of the preparation for BTS’s return in about a week. On social media forums, ARMY have even jokingly referred to this period as “BTS LOCKDOWN”—a time when all members appear to focus almost entirely on group activities and interactions centered around BTS. The members’ personal Instagram accounts are currently maintaining a similar approach.
Fans have been actively discussing Jungkook’s latest “clean-up": "He knows his priorities", "He is locked in for this comeback!", "That DIVA strikes again! What do we expect from our golden maknae, he is so random and cute", "Prepared for comeback already", "to the one only, j-hope !!! (+ bts )", "Let him coookkkk", "He said my boys only, period!!!! Love that for him and us", "Solos can crying harder now Jungkook love BTS more then anything else",...
Meanwhile, Jungkook is not the only member making changes to social media. Other members such as Suga, Jimin, and RM have also carried out their own social media “clean-ups” in recent months.
Specifically, on February 14, SUGA υиєχρє¢тє∂ly deleted 104 posts from his personal Instagram account, reducing the number of visible posts to 47 (currently 9 posts after he recently added two new uploads). The remaining posts mainly revolve around brands he represents as an ambαѕѕador, collaborative music projects, his solo concerts, and a few recent everyday moments.
Before SUGA, RM also surprised fans by deleting almost all of the posts on his Instagram. At the end of January this year, the BTS leader’s account dropped from nearly 200 posts to just four, mostly consisting of a few recent updates and one post related to his personal exhibition. Although RM had previously “cleaned up” his Instagram a few times, this was considered the most drastic reset.
As for Jimin, the singer also left fans confused when he wiped all of his previous posts at the end of December last year. On the fan community platform Weverse, Jimin later explained the reason behind his action: "Finally, my Instagram is open. I think I changed my pαѕѕword 8 times. Anyway, I wanted to start fresh from the beginning, so I tried deleting everything once”.
With several BTS members simultaneously “refreshing” their personal social media accounts, fans are increasingly sensing that the group may be entering the final stage of preparations for a long-awaited comeback.
