25 December 2021

Members of K-pop band BTS test positive for Covid-19

25 December 2021

Three members of K-pop group BTS have tested positive for coronavirus after returning from abroad, their management agency said.

RM and Jin were diagnosed with Covid-19 on Saturday evening, the Big Hit Music agency said. Another member Suga tested positive for the virus on Friday. All three received their second jabs in August.

BTS is a seven-member boyband. The four other members are J-Hope, Jungkook, V and Jimin.

According to the agency, RM and Suga have shown no symptoms while Jin has mild symptoms including a light fever.

Jin has mild symptoms (Lee Jin-man/AP) (AP)

RM had tested negative after returning from the United States earlier this month following his personal schedule there.

However, he was later diagnosed with the virus ahead of his scheduled release from self-quarantine, the agency said.

After returning to South Korea this month, Jin underwent PCR tests twice — upon arrival and later before his release from self-quarantine — and tested negative both times.

But he had flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon before he took another PRC test that came back positive, the agency said. Media reports said he also travelled to the US.

Suga, who has had a number of personal engagements in the United States during the band’s official time off, was diagnosed with Covid-19 during quarantine after returning from the US, the agency said.

Suga tested positive after returning from the US (Lee Jin-man/AP) (AP)

The agency said it will cooperate with the requests and guidelines of the South Korean health authorities.

Since their debut in 2013, BTS have garnered global recognition for their self-produced music and activism, which includes giving a speech at the United Nations and publicly calling out anti-Asian racism.

The band topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart three times in 2020, and was nominated for prominent music awards like Billboard Music Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.

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