The Power of the Purple Year
Why now?
Why is that every single K-pop act is coming back now?
I’ve been asking myself this for months. What is it about 2025? What could possibly be in the air of the “Year of the Snake” that’s telling the entirety of South Korea’s music industry to rise from their hiatus graves now? (And consequently resurrecting old K-pop fans as they go.)
BLACKPINK just announced a 2025 world tour without even stating their formal comeback. And on top of that, all four members are either currently undergoing their own solo promotions, or set to do so in the very near future (when will they have the time to promote all of this combined, I have no idea). G-DRAGON also just announced his world tour this year, and recently came back to the industry — after his seven year hiatus — with both a single and an homage, featuring fellow BIGBANG members Taeyang and Daesung (who each have been respectively touring as well). BlockB had a reunion at the end of 2024, and later hinted at a possible comeback for 2025, and 2NE1’s already been in the game, touring in celebration of their 15th anniversary since last October. Got7 just joined forces again after nearly three years a part, and a pile of other groups — TXT, BOYNEXTDOOR, IVE, ZEROBASEONE, GFRIEND, just to name a few — are set to comeback within the next two months as well.
All the way from second to fifth generation, K-pop idols are back in business. I’m honestly surprised Seo Taiji and Boys hasn’t announced a come back yet either.
But why?
To this, there was only one explanation I could come up with, could theorize for such an influx of idols prepped to hit the stage again, and it has everything to do with another group who’s set to make their own unique comeback this year, too.
BTS, by July of 2025, will have been reunited in full, with all seven members finishing their mandatory military service this summer. And from the pattern of the members who have already been discharged, they are expected to be put to work as early as August. (Many fans even suspect a world tour will be announced sometime in the fall of 2025.)
So with all of this purple activity to look forward to, attention towards Korea increases as the months go by.
ARMYs who left the K-pop scene when BTS was originally enlisted are waking from their slumber, in conglomeration with the ARMYs who chose instead to wait patiently in the background. International and Korean fans alike have been saving money ever since the idols shaved down their hair, and are more than ready to use it on any potential tour tickets that get announced.
It’s like the entire K-pop world is waiting for them to get back.
And so of course everyone’s choosing to return now. It’s genius to me. Companies must have realized how much more international attention has been getting tuned into Korea’s music industry as the days to BTS’ release grow shorter and shorter. From media and news outlets, to global audiences and social markets, wandering eyes will be drawn back to the center of K-pop upon BTS’ return.
What better time to come back than now?
It’s smart, and if strategically aligned, can open a hallway full of doors for many of the other groups on the main stage: some will have the chance to perform on the same award shows as BTS, and might even be on similar variety channels to any of BTS’ future guest appearances. It’s a surefire way for K-pop to retain a lot of the attention that’s going to be directed back onto BTS, attracting fans to others’ comeback schedules in the meantime.
And global attention is one of the largest assets that both the K-pop industry and economic market aims to help the country thrive off of: South Korea is an extremely young country, and to many, is still considered to be a post-war economy — K-pop became a source of positive and influential international coverage for Korea, in a way that shaped the nation into a world-leading figure in the eyes of others. It has made them a pillar in exportation and has improved their global economy greatly. And K-pop artists, alongside the rest of Korean entertainment industries, be it film, television, cosmetics, or production, have worked extremely hard to accomplish this. Often to the point of overworking.
It’s one of the reasons why the global attention inevitably spurred on by BTS this year is almost like a beacon to Korean music companies right now.
They know that the world is finally going to be watching.
