On the afternoon of the 28th (KST), following a Las Vegas concert, BTS leader RM (Kim Namjoon) hosted a revealing Weverse Live session. For over an hour, he candidly shared the emotional story behind the full-group comeback album ‘ARIRANG’, including an episode where he cried on Jin’s military discharge day. Despite being a weekday afternoon, over 3.7 million viewers tuned in, with comments pouring in from fans worldwide.
RM confessed, “The day Jin hyung was discharged, I played the saxophone. At that time, the members’ mental state wasn’t very good.” He added, “We all gathered at Jimin’s house, and everyone struggled and cried together.” He revealed that at that emotional moment, the members comforted each other, saying, “Hyung, you need to hold the team together,” and vowed, “Let’s repay our fans as soon as we return, as much as they’ve waited.”
Subsequently, after all members completed their military service in June 2025, they entered a song camp in LA starting from December of that year, officially embarking on serious album production. RM disclosed that in LA, they “worked like office workers for two months, commuting to the studio six days a week.”
The album production process was not without its challenges. RM confessed, “The members had already completed their solo activities, so each had different aspirations, and fans had different expectations. The production team also had differing views. However, because our members respect and consider each other’s opinions, they don’t freely voice strong opposing views. This made it very difficult to filter through the songs that were created. It was hard to set a single album direction without a central focal point.”
He emotionally stated, “We went without setting a clear path for each other,” adding, “I consider it a miracle that the album was released this way. We achieved it without a single member straying from our shared goal.”
RM also shared the creative background for each track. Regarding the title track ‘SWIM’, he expressed his deep affection, saying, “We didn’t initially think of it as the title track, but nothing better emerged. It’s a song like a more mature BTS in their 30s. I even want to listen to it in my grave.”
While discussing the inspiration behind incorporating ‘Arirang’ into ‘Body 2 Body’, he transitioned to a humble remark, meaning, “ultimately, we are just seven country boys from Korea.” He also shared an amusing anecdote about the AMA Awards, revealing, “We considered going to the after-party and mingling with other artists, but the members weren’t very keen on it, so we didn’t.”
Although there were various opinions about inserting ‘Arirang’ into the middle of the track, RM shared his feelings about the audience’s enthusiastic singalongs at a recent ‘Arirang’ tour, saying, “It feels complete only when the audience joins in with the singalong,” and called it “the most exciting moment.” He also added about the distinct sound of the Emille Bell (Seongdeokdaewang Bell) featured in the b-side track ‘No.29’, “I definitely want to play it someday and also perform it in concerts.”
Fan reactions across X (formerly Twitter) and Weverse comments were overwhelmingly emotional. @thvsuniverse commented, “We cried with you that day, Joonie,” while @bonoyajk expressed, “The best thing that ever happened to BTS and ARMY is you. The best leader.” @kthdyk lauded, “I could listen to Namjoon talk for hours.” @Cielo shared, “The album is a gem from start to finish. Your brothers trusted you, and you made it all possible.” Fans from dozens of countries, including Brazil, Pakistan, Iraq, and France, commented with their national flags, deeply resonating with RM’s heartfelt confessions.
