HYBE chairman Bang Si Hyuk is facing major heat from BTS fans after admitting his role in making the group sacrifice their personal breaks for ARIRANG.
Bang Si Hyuk | Billboard
In a recently-published interview with Billboard, Bang shared many behind-the-scenes stories from the making of ARIRANG. While talking about the song camp that all seven members attended in LA, he admitted that each of them had their own plans after completing their military service. However, they agreed to scrap their breaks and immediately flew to the US together.
The decision to head to the U.S. right away in July was intentional – I wanted to create an environment where the members could focus entirely on music. In reality, each member had made personal plans to take time for themselves after completing their service. But when I asked them – quite sincerely – they all agreed without hesitation, canceled their schedules and flew to the U.S. together.
— Bang Si Hyuk
He also acknowledged that it wasn’t an easy decision, given that they had no time to rest after finishing their mandatory military duties.
Anyone who has experienced military service or knows someone who has, would understand that this is by no means an easy decision – even for a group like BTS, the biggest band in the world. They are human, and they needed rest. And yet, the fact that they chose to show that level of commitment speaks volumes about how deeply they love music – and why they are who they are as BTS.
— Bang Si Hyuk
While the HYBE chairman recollected this anecdote as a positive, fans were not so thrilled with this revelation.
Many ARMYs called out Bang Si Hyuk’s decision as unnecessary and cruel, questioning why the album’s production was so hastily executed to the point where Jin couldn’t even participate.
dont understand how r u glazing this man, he just said that he overworked the tannies and didn’t care about them resting b4 starting preparation 4 an album and a long tour & not to forget he didnt care about jin missing from all of this when he clearly can’t cancel his schedule https://t.co/PWY9i6Arof
— Di⁷⊙⊝⊜ 아리랑 🪭🍉 (@AriRangRooted) April 8, 2026
This man is evil and so manipulative, he is the worst person ever. They needed to rest and do their things, they barely rested one month and cancelled their schedules…imagine how many good opportunities of Tae got wasted cuz of this ugly man. Free Tae from this greedy l0ser https://t.co/ZvaatwzLrx
— Mel | ꪜ | BIG V (@mytaetae_m) April 8, 2026
free bts from this demon https://t.co/CVeo9X3rSj
— ☆ ⁷ (@minixkookie) April 8, 2026
honestly the part abt bts members cancelling their plans to rest cause bang sihyuk “sincerely asked” them to work right after the discharge is the most disgusting thing for me
— vict✧r (@agentjmn) April 8, 2026
This guy doesn’t give a shit about their personal well being he just cares about the revenue they make for the company. Why else would he ask them to cancel all their plans right after military and start work? He very well knows bts are hard working artists who wouldn’t say no. https://t.co/zEUlrlN2m3
— 🌈💜Shey⁷⊙⊝⊜ (@wrapmonline) April 8, 2026
However, some also argued that the decision, at the end of the day, was taken by BTS, and all fans needed to do was acknowledge the hard work and appreciate the art that came out of it.
BTS