Popular South Korean band BTS member Jimin underwent appendicitis surgery on Monday, the group's agency Big Hit Music announced.
Taking to Weverse -- a platform where fans and artists interact -- Big Hit Music also confirmed that Jimin tested positive for Covid.
"Jimin was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and was tested positive for Covid-19. He underwent surgery following physician advice early morning on Monday, January 31," the statement said. It added that though he is "experiencing mild sore throat but is making a speedy recovery".
Earlier in December, BTS members RM, Jin and Suga had tested positive for Covid.
(L-R) V, Suga, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Jimin, and J-Hope of BTS.
The seven-member band debuted in 2013, with members- Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook considered as underdogs in the industry. This was despite some of the group members having produced award-winning music for other K-Pop artists in the past.
A major reason was also that their label, BigHit Entertainment, was relatively unknown in the face of the three major South Korean entertainment labels- SM, YG, and JYP.
But thanks to the band’s meteoric rise, the label was able to rack up a vastly successful IPO (Initial Public Offer) in October 2020, raising more than 800 million dollars in the initial offering which was oversubscribed more than 600 times. Sky-rocketing the company’s valuation to almost 4 billion dollars, this was South Korea’s largest share market offering since July 2017.
The band 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.
BTS also 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.
