Fact: all seven BTS members are as good looking as they are talented, and if you've ever wondered about their relationship statuses, you're definitely not alone. After all, ever since the K-pop group debuted in June 2013, none of its members has ever been in a public relationship. While it was once common practice in the South Korean pop music industry for labels to enforce rules which keep idols from dating publicly, the only thing that's preventing BTS from romance is their busy schedules, according to the band.
Still, the BTS members don't seem too lonely. Inside Rolling Stone's June 2021 cover story, the group addressed whether or not they worry about their fans' reactions to the prospect of them dating, an idea Suga rejected entirely. "The ARMY is a diverse group," he said, referencing their fan base. "In this hypothetical situation, some may accept it, some may not. Whether it's dating or something else, they're all individuals, and they will understand things differently."
Now that BTS is on a hiatus from making music as a group while they pursue individual projects and complete their mandatory service in the Korean military, fans wonder if their single statuses have changed. Read on to see all the ladies the boys of BTS have been linked to in the past.
Who Is Jungkook Dating?
As the youngest member of BTS and the main vocalist, it's no surprise that Jungkook has been the subject of several dating rumors. He's previously been linked to fellow K-pop stars Yein from Lovelyz, Chaeyeon from DIA, and Ko So-hyun, a trainee from Cube, though there is no substantial proof to support those fan rumors.
Most recently, in September 2019, it was rumored that Jungkook was seeing Lee Mi-joo, a tattoo artist who worked at a parlor Jungkook visited. In response, Big Hit Entertainment released a statement saying that Jungkook and Lee Mi-joo were merely friends. "During his visit to Geojedo, he realized his circle of tattooist acquaintances was also visiting there, so he hung out with them," the record label said (via AllKPop). "We are sorry that his private life during his extended break had to be distorted like this." Lee Mi-joo also gave a statement denying the rumors after she started receiving online hate.
Most recently, in late September 2023, footage purporting to show Jungkook with a woman in his apartment was posted on the Chinese social media website Weibo and eventually made its way to X. There's no confirmation that the person in the blurry video footage (which was filmed from a distance into the subject's private residence) is Jungkook (and, considering the nature of how it was filmed, the person who posted it is either malicious or not of sound mind), but that didn't stop fans from speculating that Jungkook may have a girlfriend — rumors the idol swiftly shut down.
"I don't have a girlfriend. I don't have any girlfriend," Jungkook said during an Oct. 2 broadcast on Stationhead (via a translation by X user @JJK_Times). "I just want to focus on work now, and I don't feel the need to have one . . . so just stop talking about it." Jungkook's label, HYBE, did not immediately respond to POPSUGAR's request for further comment on the video and dating speculation.
Who Is Jimin Dating?
Jimin has been romantically linked to more than one lady in the past, and they share something in common: they're both members of popular K-pop girl groups. What that means is unsubstantiated dating rumors follow them around, just like they do Jimin.
There's been speculation for years that he and Seulgi from Red Velvet were once an item, though neither of them has ever confirmed or denied the rumors. He's also been linked by fans to Han Seung-yeon from the girl group Kara ever since Seung-yeon admitted during a June 2015 episode of MBS's Weekly Idol that she had a crush on her fellow K-pop star. "Back when we were promoting 'Mamma Mia,' our promotion periods overlapped," she said. "He's caught my eye since then." However, the two never actually dated.
Jimin does not appear to be dating anyone currently.
Who Is V Dating?
In October 2021, rumors V was dating the daughter of the president of Paradise Group, a hotel and resort conglomerate, spread throughout Korean online communities after he was spotted at a gallery exhibit with her and her mother (who happens to be the chairwoman of Paradise Group's Paradise Culture Foundation). Hybe quickly shut down the rumors in a statement, saying, "Chairwoman Choi Yoon Jung's family and V are just acquaintances." Still, that didn't stop V from speaking out about dating rumors himself on Weverse. "Pathetic. I'd like to sing UGH," he wrote in an Oct. 14, 2021, post, according to a fan translation by Twitter user @Choi_BTS2. "In tonight's dream I'll shoot poisoned needle on their back necks. Please watch out your back neck."
In May 2022, rumors began to spread that V and Jennie from Blackpink were dating. The rumors were based on a photo that appeared to show V driving in a car with someone who looked like Jennie on Jeju Island. While some fans believed the photo was real, other fans questioned its authenticity since photo manipulations aren't uncommon when it comes to shipping idols (based on this list, it's safe to say dating rumors are more often fabricated than not when it comes to BTS). However, when reached out to for comment regarding the rumors, Jennie's label, YG, released a statement saying, "We have nothing to say [regarding this matter]. We will inform you if we have a different response to share," according to Chosun (via Soompi).
A few months later, in late August 2022, another photo of Jennie snapping a pic of V while he's getting his hair styled leaked. In the photo, V appears to be wearing the same outfit he wore to the airport to attend the Celine fashion show in Paris on June 23 (which he, coincidentally, attended with Jennie's bandmate Lisa), suggesting they may have hung out before his departure.
More photos of the pair would ultimately leak, and YG released a statement that seemed to suggest they were starting an investigation into who was leaking the photos. "We have officially requested the police to investigate who first circulated Blackpink Jennie's personal photos," YG said in an October 2022 statement (via Rolling Stone).
"We have refrained from mentioning the matter or making an official statement in order to minimize any further damage. However, there have been indiscriminate rumors, criticism, personal attacks, sexual harassment, and violations of personal life sparked by those private photographs," the statement continued. "We are now announcing that we will take legal action and correct the situation."
While some fans took this as confirmation that V and Jennie did date, others still doubted the authenticity of the photos or believed YG could have been referencing other breaches of privacy in their statement.
Rumors surrounding V and Jennie died down over the following months as the sieve of leaked photos dried up. But that all changed on May 17, 2023, when video footage that appeared to show the pair holding hands and taking a romantic stroll in Paris emerged on Twitter. While fans, once again, doubted the authenticity of the footage since the couple was filmed from a distance, close-up photos that followed soon after on Twitter showed the idols up close with their respective management teams wearing the same outfits as the couple in the video.
Both YG and HYBE declined to formally address the latest dating rumors directly according to Sports Seoul, instead telling the outlet, "We don't know because it is the private life of artists." Since HYBE has denied false dating rumors, the agencies' silence on the latest rumors is as good as confirmation V and Jennie are dating for many. (HYBE did not respond to POPSUGAR's request for comment on the V and Jennie dating rumors, and reps for Jennie could not be reached.)
Jennie and V have not been spotted together in recent months. They both attended Bruno Mars's concert in Seoul in June, but sat separately in different sections of the arena, which drummed up some buzz. V has been spotted interacting more freely in public with other members of Blackpink, which could suggest things are still going strong with Jennie. He regularly has schedules with Lisa through their respective partnerships with fashion brand Celine, and V more recently chatted with Jisoo at Frieze Seoul 2023 Paradise Art Festa on Sept. 4.
Who Is RM Dating?
Despite being the leader of BTS (or, perhaps, because he's the leader of the group), RM has rarely been publicly linked to anyone romantically. However, during a September 2017 interview with Billboard, RM spoke about the outro on BTS's album "Love Yourself," and his cryptic response led fans to believe that RM has (or had at the time) a secret lover for whom he wrote the verse.
As he told Billboard, "I thought it was the right outro for this album because it is really a range of emotions — I'm saying I met this person that I really love, this person is the love of my life right now." And though that person could be purely hypothetical, he did say that the verse came "from the bottom of my heart."
In recent months, RM has been spotted attending multiple events that his "Smoke Sprite" collaborator, So!Yoon!, was also attending (like G-Dragon's Nike party in April and Blackpink's Jennie's Calvin Klein pop-up event on May 10), which has sparked rumbles of speculation that they may be dating. Still, there's no indication that their relationship is anything more than friendly at the moment.
Who Is Suga Dating?
After BTS rapper Suga collaborated with K-pop soloist Suran on the 2017 song "Wine," fans wondered if there might be something romantic going on between the two. The rumors got so out of hand that BTS's record label, Big Hit Entertainment, had to step in to issue a statement in March 2018. "The dating rumors of Suga and Suran are not true," they said in a statement. "They have only worked on music production together."
Suga later disputed the rumors himself, telling ElleGirl Russia that he was too busy to date. "I don't believe that we can date someone," he said. "We don't even have time to meet our family members." He added that, even if BTS members were to date, they could never have a traditional relationship.
Suga does not appear to be dating anyone currently.
Who Is Jin Dating?
Jin started dating rumors back in 2014 in an unexpected place: his album notes. On the first three BTS albums, Jin gave a shout-out to South Korean comic Lee Gook-joo, which put ARMY members on high alert. In July 2015, the comedienne appeared on MBC's Radio Star to put the rumors to rest.
While Lee Gook-joo admitted that she once dated someone six years her junior (as Jin is), that mystery man apparently wasn't Jin. "So there's a person who I have been close to for over four years and I even cheered him on at Music Core when he debuted," she said. "BTS' Jin. We are very close. He thanked me in the 'Thanks To' section in his first three albums and fans put two and two together." Apparently, the two were only ever friends.
Jin, who is currently serving in the Korean military, does not appear to be dating anyone currently.
Who Is J-Hope Dating?
Despite his sweet smile, main dancer J-Hope has somehow managed to evade any dating rumors over the years, and he does not appear to be dating anyone currently.
Source: Popsugar (PS)
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