SEOUL — Three members of the global K-pop phenomenon BTS have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to Big Hit Music, the group’s management company.
The company said that RM, 27, and Jin, 29, tested positive on Saturday after returning to South Korea from the United States this month. The day before, Big Hit Music announced that Suga, 28, who returned from the United States on Thursday, discovered that he was infected while in quarantine and after taking a P.C.R. test.
All three received their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine in August, the company said. Suga, the stage name for the artist Min Yoon-gi, had tested negative before traveling to the United States, the company said. RM (Kim Nam-joon) and Jin (Kim Seok-jin) initially tested negative on returning to South Korea.
The company previously said that Suga had no contact with the other members of BTS. He was not displaying any symptoms as of Friday, and he was isolating at home, the company said.
The news comes a month after another K-pop megastar, Lalisa Manoban, 24, of Blackpink, better known as Lisa, tested positive for the coronavirus. The other members of Blackpink — Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé — tested negative, the production company, YG Entertainment, said in an emailed statement last month.
BTS has become a multibillion-dollar act, known for dynamic dance moves, catchy lyrics and fiercely devoted fans. In 2018, BTS became the first K-pop group to top the Billboard album chart, with “Love Yourself: Tear.” In September this year, the group gave a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, promoting coronavirus vaccinations and praising young people for their resiliency during the pandemic.
The band traveled to the United States in November and performed at the American Music Awards. Big Hit Music announced later that members of BTS would be taking an “extended period of rest.”
John Yoon contributed reporting.
Source : Nytimes
