Two members of K-pop powerhouse BTS have completed their mandatory military service, prompting fan frenzy and anticipation for their comeback.

RM and V greeted fans with salutes and a saxophone performance after being discharged on Tuesday. V asked fans to “wait just a little longer” for BTS to reunite.

All seven members are set to finish their military service by the end of this month and their agency Hybe had hinted at a reunion. They went on hiatus in 2022 at the height of their global fame.

Hundreds of fans, some whom flew in from overseas, gathered in front of Hybe’s headquarters in central Seoul to celebrate RM’s and V’s return on Tuesday.

Many of them were dressed in purple, BTS’ signature colour, and carried large banners and photographs of the two K-pop idols.

South Korea requires all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 to serve for about two years in the military so the country can be ready to fight the North.

On Tuesday, Hybe displayed a banner saying “We are back”, along with the official logos of BTS and ARMY – an acronym for the band’s fan group, which stands for Adorable Representative MC for Youth – on its building.

“This feels incredible. To be here in Seoul, to see the place where BTS grew up and started singing and dancing. It’s amazing,” Janya, who flew in from the UK, told The Korea Herald.

“I want to say to RM and V that you are a massive inspiration, and I love you so much!” the 28-year-old said.

“It’s been a long, long time without you. I’m so glad you’re back and finally free to do whatever you want to do,” said Ivory from Australia.

Hannah Chung, who lives in London, told AFP news agency that she planned her trip two years ago “because I knew the members will be out by then”.

She is counting on a chance to see the band at the annual BTS Festa, a celebration of the band’s debut, that will take place on Friday.

Earlier during their discharge in Chuncheon, RM thanked fans for waiting for them to complete their national duties.

“Now, I’m ready to hit the ground running again as RM of BTS. Thank you to everyone who waited and looked after us,” he said.

V said the military tenure was a “time for me to reset both physically and mentally”.

“I really want to run to ARMY as soon as I can. Thank you for waiting for us during our military service,” he said.

The septet debuted in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2017 when a highly successful US tour propelled their blend of pop, hip-hop and R&B – mostly in Korean – onto the global stage.

Since then, they have become the most-streamed group on Spotify, the first K-pop act to top the US iTunes chart and several Billboard charts, and one of the most awarded groups in history.

The band’s name is short for Bangtan Boys, or “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” in Korean.

BTS has actively advocated for youth issues, including through a mental health initiative with Unicef.

It has also addressed the United Nations General Assembly and met with former US President Joe Biden to discuss the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes.

The band had previously won a deferral – when in 2020, the nation’s parliament passed a bill allowing them to delay their duties until the age of 30.

In 2022, the oldest member of the group, Jin, enlisted, and the others followed suit.

(BBC News)

Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka has won the 8th Émile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature for the French translation of his novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”.

According to the Sri Lankan Embassy in France, Karunatilaka was awarded the French literary prize by the Guimet Museum on June 05.

“The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida”, was translated from English by Xavier Gros and published in French by Calmann Lévy in 2024. 

The president of the Guimet Museum, Yannick Lintz, in a statement, praised the work’s “literary invention of universal dimension” and “the modernity and radicalism of its writing.”

“The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” also won the prestigious Booker Prize in 2022.

Congratulations to #SriLankan writer Shehan Karunatilaka on winning the 8th Emile Guimet Prize for Asian Literature for his novel “The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida” awarded by the Guimet Museum on Thursday 5 June 2025. Karunatilaka’s novel also won the prestigious #BookerPrize in… pic.twitter.com/fs4zjaQ565

— Sri Lanka in France 🇱🇰 (@SLinFrance) June 9, 2025

Tom Felton is to reprise his role as the villainous Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter stage show on Broadway.

It marks the first time that a star of the Harry Potter movies has joined the spin-off stage production, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.

The hit play – which serves as an epilogue to the famous wizard’s story, following on from the end of the book series – opened in London’s West End in 2016 before transferring to New York two years later.

Felton said: “It’s surreal to be stepping back into his shoes – and of course his iconic platinum blond hair – and I am thrilled to be able to see his story through and to share it with the greatest fan community in the world.”

He will play the role at New York’s Lyric Theatre for 19 weeks from 11 November.

The English actor featured opposite Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson on screen in the film franchise from 2001 to 2011.

Now 37, he will become the first member of the cast to join the stage show, which takes place 19 years after the end of the original story, with Harry, Ron and Hermione, as well as Draco, all sending their own children to Hogwarts.

“Being a part of the Harry Potter films has been one of the greatest honours of my life,” Felton said in a statement.

“Joining this production will be a full-circle moment for me, because when I begin performances in Cursed Child this fall, I’ll also be the exact age Draco is in the play.”

He added: “I look forward to joining this incredible company and being a part of the Broadway community.”

He also posted a teaser video on Instagram, in which he dons Draco’s blonde wig and black robes and reaches for his wooden wand before menacingly asking: “Scared, Potter?” A caption then reads: “Draco is back.”

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the highest-grossing non-musical play in Broadway history, and has sold more than 10 million tickets worldwide since its premiere in London in 2016.

It currently has productions running in London, New York, Hamburg and Tokyo.

The producers of Broadway production, Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender, said in a joint statement they could not wait to see Felton perform “once again with the same depth, gravity, and humanity he has always brought to Draco”.

“It’s not lost on us that this is a cultural moment charged with nostalgia, evolution, and emotion,” they added.

“Tom’s return to Hogwarts bridges generations of fans and breathes new life into a beloved story. We’re beyond thrilled to welcome Tom back ‘home’ but also into a new family: our Broadway company.”

Since his last outing as Draco, Felton featured in the 2011 sci-fi movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and made his West End theatre debut in the 2022 play, 2:22 A Ghost Story.

This came shortly after he had attended the filming of the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts feature alongside Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint.

The same year, he published a memoir of his time as a young actor in the franchise entitled Beyond the Wand: The Magic and Mayhem of Growing Up a Wizard.

Tickets for his latest venture will go on general sale on 12 June, with a presale starting two days earlier.

Last week, HBO has announced the young actors who will play the lead trio in its TV series adaption of JK Rowling’s fantasy book series.

(BBC News)