K-pop sensation BTS on June 13 unveiled its new album and held an interview to mark the ninth anniversary of its debut on its YouTube channel Bangtan TV. (Screen capture from Bangtan TV)

By Yoon Sojung

K-pop sensation BTS on June 13 unveiled songs from its new album and held an interview to mark the ninth anniversary of its debut on YouTube.

In its latest music video for "Proof Live" released on its YouTube channel Bangtan TV, the group looked back on its past nine years and each member discussed his best moments. On June 13, 2013, BTS debuted on the K-pop scene with the single "2 Cool 4 Skool."

In a video shot at the center of the Las Vegas desert, the boy band sang three songs from its new album "Proof": the title track "Yet To Come," the B-side single "Born Singer" and "For Youth."

In an interview right after their live performance, members discussed their most memorable moments from their first nine years.

Group leader RM said, "BTS' best moment is yet to come," adding, "But through those full nine years, I've come to realize how precious my members and my fans are."

J-Hope said, "For me, it's June 13, the day BTS was born. That was probably the best moment."

They also talked about their new album and journey over the last nine years.

Jin said, "Since it's been roughly 10 years since our debut, we wanted to take a moment to sort out what we’ve released so far," adding, "So we put them all in one album."

V said, "Many of our unreleased (tracks) are included in this album," adding, "We took those songs as a chance to reminisce on when they were recorded and we also wanted to wrap up our first chapter."

On the past two years, when COVID-19 prevented the group from doing many of its regular activities, RM said, "Most of the things we've done since 2020 were not planned in advance."

"As we went on, we were sometimes a little afraid and unsure if we were on the right path."

Telling his fellow members that they did a "great job," RM said, "We've also had growing reservations about what was the right answer," adding, "We really hung in there."

J-Hope said, "Rather than taking the safe path, we chose to tell the stories we wanted to tell because that felt more like who we were."

The group's management agency Big Hit Music said an estimated 2.13 million viewers simultaneously watched the livestreamed video on YouTube. The band's music video for "Permission to Dance" also exceeded 500 million views as of June 13 at 4:14 p.m., with 2.15 million copies of the group's latest album "Proof" sold within a day of its release on June 10.

As of June 11 at 8 a.m., the title track "Yet to Come" topped the iTunes Top Song Chart in 97 countries including the U.S., Canada, Australia, France and Germany.

arete@korea.kr