K pop band BTS taking a break to work on solo projects

 
BTS, the South Korean band that spearheaded a global K-pop craze, is taking a break as a group to work on solo projects, the singers announced on Tuesday.

Band member RM, speaking at the annual FESTA dinner that celebrates the group's founding, said he had been feeling a need to explore his own work without the constant recording and performing required of BTS.

"The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that they don't give you time to mature. You have to keep producing music and keep doing something," said RM, seated at a table with his six fellow band members and speaking in Korean.

An English translation of the remarks showed one of the members calling the break a "hiatus," a description a representative for the band disputed in a statement."To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats," the statement said.