'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
BTS member Kim Seokjin made headlines on October 14, 2023, after posting a series of images on his personal Instagram account. After his appearance during BTS SUGA's last show of the D-DAY World Tour in Seoul on August 6, 2023, this marks Seokjin's latest public appearance. The singer took a leave from the military, and a BTS ARMY, @itsbtszone, tweeted about it, stating that he is back home.
The oldest member of BTS posted pictures taken at the MapleStory pop-up store in Gangnam, Seoul. This further made the entire fandom emotional as they got to see their favorite idol after so long.
Furthermore, yesterday, October 13, 2023, was BTS Jimin's birthday. The Like Crazy singer and songwriter mentioned meeting Jin and how he gifted Jimin a MapleStory mushroom plushie with pocket money inside of it amounting to the oldest BTS member's two months' worth of salary. This made fans swoon over the Astronaut singer, who is currently serving his mandatory military service.
"It's been ages that I have seen him so happy": Fans have a meltdown on Twitter over Seokjin's latest pictures
The BTS ARMY, who were ecstatic over Jin's multiple Instagram uploads in a single hour, also noticed BTS member J-Hope's comments in one of his posts where he asked Jin to post all the photos together and called him "ahjussi"—a term used to address older men in South Korean culture—implicating and teasing Jin for being too old for Instagram.
"Ahjussi, upload it as one feed. How many are you going to post?" J-Hope replied.
Jin responded to Jhope's quips by saying that he has to make sure the fans believe there are so many images because he hasn't had many photos shot recently and has nothing to post.
"I don't have that many pictures so I have to make it seem like I have a lot."
Fans flooded social media with tweets and comments as they rejoiced at getting a glimpse of Seokjin after so long. A fellow X user, @hourjinnie, highlighted the childish behavior of Jin, who wore his shoes with the price tag intact while visiting the MapleStory pop-up store on October 14, 2023.
It is further important to note that October 14 also marks the birthday and one-year anniversary of Wotteo, a toy plushy that Seokjin created last year as part of his promotion schedule for his debut solo single, The Astronaut. Fans trended the hashtag "1YearWithWotteo" X and another hashtag "Seokjin" which currently has over 138K retweets alone.
This must have been eventful for BTS' fandom since Seokjin enlisted immediately after releasing his debut solo single, The Astronaut, which he released as a gift to his fans before he left for the military on December 13, 2023. The Astronaut has surpassed over 200 million streams on Spotify by July 20, 2023.
In other news, on September 3, Jin received recognition from the South Korean government, which stated that his collaboration with Ottogi Ramen had been vital to the sharp rise in the Korean brand's ramen's foreign sales. From January 2023 to July 2023, ramen exports increased by 17.7% compared to the previous year, generating over $522 million in income, according to the Korean Customs Service.
BTS member Kim Seokjin was named a brand ambassador for the Korean ramen company Ottogi in January 2023, after which the company saw a 15% boost in sales.
