BTS has officially named their upcoming fifth studio album Arirang. BigHit Music has confirmed the album will be released on March 20, 2026, and pre-orders are already open. This marks the band’s first full-group release in nearly four years.
While album titles in pop music, especially K-pop, often tend to be abstract or conceptual, Arirang is unique due to its strong cultural significance.
BTS announce Arirang Album and Tour
Arirang is one of Korea’s oldest and most enduring folk songs, often called the country’s unofficial national anthem. Its roots go back centuries, long before there was written notation or formal authorship. Passed down orally, Arirang has survived by changing, influenced by different regions, voices, and historical moments, instead of a fixed arrangement.
In many ways, that change reflects BTS’s own journey. The group has grown, expanded, and endured by staying flexible and connected to its roots. In that way, ARIRANG feels like a natural choice for the group.
Arirang special because of emotional openness
What makes Arirang special is its emotional openness. The term does not translate directly. Like feelings that are hard to put into words, it is meant to be felt rather than explained. Naming their comeback album Arirang feels more like an unspoken connection between BTS and ARMY, a relationship that has weathered distance, silence, and time.
At the start of Chapter 2, BTS posed a simple yet significant question: “Will you stay?” With Arirang, it feels like they are not returning to ask again but to listen, knowing the answer has always been present.
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