BTS j-hope DAZED & CONFUSED Korea Magazine | August 2026 English Translation

Want to read the full interview?
👉Get the BTS j-hope DAZED & CONFUSED Korea Magazine here

Japanese Translation: Here

 

 

Memory travels backward through time.

A year ago, I saw him in concert. J-Hope appeared holding a stand microphone. Moments later, flames erupted across the red stage as he danced with the performers around him. Every dynamic instant unfolding onstage shimmered in the eyes of the ARMY watching.

On his first solo world tour, 12 years after his debut, he laughed and cried again and again.

Suddenly, countless moments pass through my mind. Time that can hardly be put into words.

We live carrying time within us.
We live shaping and reshaping it.
We are products of time.

And yet, rather than standing still, time flows with an almost unbearable persistence.

Time makes us who we are.

There are parts of J-Hope’s time that he has never shown us. Hours spent in a sweltering practice room with no audience. Time no one else knows. Time known only to J-Hope.

Between the mirror and the walls, he moves. He listens to music. Time passes, and before long, time becomes dance, accumulating layer by layer within the muscles of his body. Perhaps it is the sum of all that sweat, transformed into instinct and sensation.

Then J-Hope begins to sing. All those hours gather together and become lyrics.

The peaks and turning points of a life are often born from those burning stretches of time endured alone, unseen by anyone else.

Perhaps, for J-Hope, the stage is a place of hope where those moments finally become real.

One year after that performance, J-Hope, Audemars Piguet, and Dazed met.

As always, J-Hope stepped onto a stage of his own. There, in front of the camera, wearing Audemars Piguet, he surrendered himself briefly to the music. Everyone watched the moment in silence.

A person shaped by time.
A person who does not resist its flow.

Perhaps that is why every stage becomes a new starting point for him.

When Dazed met J-Hope in August, he was once again beneath the summer sun, preparing for another performance back in Korea.

The stage lights come on again.

He begins to dance.

Like a long-awaited summer wave, J-Hope’s time comes rushing toward us.

 

---

 

You recently wrapped up your Las Vegas concerts. I heard you came straight back and did today’s shoot. It’s already 7 p.m. here in Korea. Every country and every city has a different time difference and rhythm. It’s still the middle of the night in the U.S. right now.

I actually think the U.S. time difference suits me surprisingly well. I’m comfortable in Korea too, of course, but when I’m in the U.S., I somehow maintain a healthier routine. I really like the rhythm of waking up in the morning and going to bed at a reasonable time in the evening.

You’ve been performing on the “ARIRANG” world tour since April this year. Are you around the halfway point now? What is it like to continue with such a long-term plan?

It’s incredibly meaningful. These are moments I get to share with ARMY around the world who have been waiting for BTS. I think being able to devote such a long period of time entirely to one thing is really special and remarkable. I suppose I can do it because it means so much to me. I’m always happy when I’m performing. (laughs)

Does it feel familiar, or does it still feel new?

I think performing always feels new, no matter how many times you’ve done it. The city, the people, the weather, the venue, nothing is ever exactly the same. So each time, you take another meaningful step forward and challenge yourself for that particular performance.

And BTS is together again.

That’s right. It’s more fun because I’m with the members instead of being on my own.

Coincidentally, today is June 13, and I heard your Busan concert is just around the corner. It’s a meaningful date, isn’t it? It’s BTS’s debut anniversary.

I think the schedule was probably arranged intentionally to make that time feel special. During that period in particular, we really wanted to be in Korea and show everyone something great together.

If you think back to J-Hope on BTS’s debut stage in 2013, 13 years ago, what comes to mind? Whenever we talk about BTS and J-Hope, the conversation somehow leads to enormous dreams. It has been a series of shining moments under the name of “dream,” hasn’t it?

I still live with dreams. (laughs) If I think about what dreams mean to me now, they feel almost like romance. I’m someone who has always worked toward my dreams. You imagine something, you sweat for it, you cry for it, and eventually all of that becomes part of your flesh and blood. That’s when you really feel alive.

It makes your heart race.

This might sound a little cheesy, but there are so many emotions you experience simply by living. In those moments, you hear your heart beating. Your heart never stops beating, just like the second hand of a clock keeps moving forward. I hope that sense of excitement in me keeps going in the same way.

What is your dream now?

To eat well and live well. It sounds like the simplest thing, but it’s difficult, right? (laughs) I want to keep working for a long time while making the music I love, stay healthy, love, and continue to feel gratitude. That’s my dream.

For today’s concept, we quoted part of the lyrics from your self-written song “MORE.” There are lines such as “a work born from crashing and falling” and “11 years of self-taught learning.” They made me imagine the intense years you must have overcome on your own. What does time ultimately make possible? Perfection, perhaps?

I don’t know. I’m not sure anything in this world is truly perfect. Maybe that’s exactly why I try even harder to understand myself thoroughly and reflect on who I am. I don’t think that part of me changes, no matter how much time passes.

The Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore you wore today is a sports watch. We imagined you wearing it while listening to music you love and dancing. What was it like actually wearing it?

It felt reassuring. (laughs) Every minute and every second somehow looked even cooler.

What about in everyday life? Do you check your watch often?

I do. To me, checking the time feels almost like looking back at my own day. Seeing what I’m doing at a certain hour makes the watch feel like an important element that helps me remember each day.

There’s also the need to manage the time that keeps passing. Some days, it suddenly becomes dawn before you even realize it. What are you like when it comes to managing time?

I tend to manage my time pretty carefully. But that doesn’t mean I rigidly follow a schedule down to the exact minute. I also move flexibly within a larger framework. Rather than being tied down by time, I try to stay free and give myself some room.

Is there a particular moment in your day that you consider essential, something you try never to skip?

Making my bed? (laughs) I always make my bed after I wake up. That way, when I come back later, it doesn’t feel like the previous night is simply continuing. It feels like I’m welcoming an entirely new night.

Music can remain with us regardless of time, but K-pop is an industry where time seems to move particularly quickly. Amid that, people have even begun using the expression “BTS 2.0.” What keeps BTS moving forward while remaining true to yourselves and still pursuing evolution?

I think it’s because we know one another so well and understand how important we are to each other. And I think we’ve been able to stay together for so long because we’re also people who know how to take care of ourselves. At the very center of it all is “respect.” You and me, and us. When you understand you, understand me, and understand us, being together becomes so much more precious.

Lately, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about what it means to be together and to walk alongside someone. I suppose that is also connected to time.

Sometimes it’s better not to overthink things. If you make something too complicated in your head, it can actually become more difficult. (laughs)

In that sense, it has already been two years since you became part of the Audemars Piguet family.

Through Audemars Piguet, I’ve been discovering a world I didn’t know very well before. As I continue learning new things, I think my affection for Audemars Piguet has grown even stronger. More than anything, I really love the fact that I can create and share important moments in my life together with Audemars Piguet.

Are there moments ahead that you’re especially looking forward to? Moments that will be a first, like today. In fact, today was also the first time Dazed and J-Hope worked together. More than anything, it was wonderful to finally meet you like this.

As a musician, I’m always looking forward to and hoping for new kinds of firsts. At the same time, I’m trying to comfort and take care of Jung Hoseok as a person. I’ve realized that I need to value myself as a whole person before I can show the best side of myself as an artist.

That’s how I’m continuing to create new firsts together with the members and ARMY. And to Dazed, thank you so much for sharing this first with me today! I guess something called “D” will be appearing on my Instagram soon. (laughs)