- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- Nadal defied injury woes in record-breaking career
- Nadal v Djokovic, French Open, 2006: Chapter One in epic rivalry
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- Pakistan at 23-1 after Brook triple hundred takes England to 823-7
- Zelensky meets Starmer, Rutte on whirlwind tour of Europe
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines confronts China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Kim Sei-young shoots 62 to take two-stroke lead at LPGA Shanghai
- The haircuts that help traumatised Ukrainian soldiers heal
- Sinner crushes Medvedev to set up potential Alcaraz Shanghai semi
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- England's Harry Brook blasts triple century against Pakistan
- Chinese electric car companies cope with European tariffs
- Zelensky in London for whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
- Record-breaking Root, Brook both pass 200 as England pile up 658-3
- Football mourns Greek defender George Baldock's shock death at 31
- Uniqlo owner reports record annual earnings
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as markets track Wall St record
- Indonesia biomass drive threatens key forests: report
- Home is far away for Madagascar in AFCON qualifying
- Two months on, Donbas soldiers begin to question Kursk offensive
- Rugby Australia to counter-sue in dispute with Melbourne Rebels
- Mumbai mourns Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines challenges China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Mets advance on Lindor blast, Dodgers stay alive in MLB playoffs
- Injury-ravaged Krygios aiming to return at Australian Open
- Greek international Baldock, dead at 31: family
- EU talks deportation hubs to stem migration
- Deaths and repression sideline Suu Kyi's party ahead of Myanmar vote
- S. Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant
- China opens $71 bn 'swap facility' to boost markets
- Mets advance on Lindor grand slam, Yankees and Tigers win
- Taiwan President Lai vows to 'resist annexation' of island
- China's solar goes from supremacy to oversupply
- Asian markets track Wall St record as Hong Kong, Shanghai stabilise
- 'Denying my potential': women at Japan's top university call out gender imbalance
- China's central bank says opens up $70.6 bn in liquidity to boost market
- Zelensky on whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Youth facing unprecedented wave of violence, UN envoy warns
- 'A casino in every kitchen': Brazil's online gambling craze
- Nobel chemistry winner sees engineered proteins solving tough problems
- Lindor powers Mets past Phillies into NL Championship Series
- Wildlife populations plunge 73% since 1970: WWF
- 'Sleeper agent' bots on X fuel US election misinformation, study says
- Death toll rises to 109 after Haiti gang attack, official says
All BTS members renew contracts with HYBE: agency
All seven members of K-pop sensation BTS have renewed their contracts with agency HYBE, the company said Wednesday, with the group currently on "hiatus" as some of them perform South Korea's mandatory military service.
Since their debut in 2013, BTS have been credited with generating billions of dollars for their country, as well as boosting the image and soft power of South Korea -- now a global cultural powerhouse.
The K-pop juggernaut announced a "hiatus" from group activities last year and two members are currently undertaking their some 18 months of military duty.
Local reports have said the band could reunite around 2025, when all of its seven members will have completed their service in the army.
"Our company has completed the Board of Directors' resolution to renew the exclusive contracts of seven BTS members," the band's agency, HYBE, said in a regulatory filing on Wednesday.
"This fact was judged to be a management matter that could affect the company's financial status and investor decision-making, and was therefore disclosed," it added.
Since their debut 10 years ago, the band had previously renewed their contracts with HYBE in 2018, which would have expired in 2024.
The company did not disclose details of how long the new contracts were or when they would expire, but the latest announcement indicates that all seven members of the group will likely remain with the label even after they have completed their military service.
Some male K-pop stars have faced challenges in resuming their careers after fulfilling their duties, in an intensely competitive industry where artists can be easily replaced.
In March, Bang Si-hyuk, chairman of HYBE and the mastermind behind BTS, said making BTS do their military service was slowing the global growth of K-pop.
All able-bodied men in South Korea must serve at least 18 months in the military and, after a years-long debate about whether BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, enlisted last year.
His bandmate J-Hope started his mandatory service in April.
A third member, SUGA, will begin his service on Friday.
HYBE shares closed down 0.82 percent in Seoul Wednesday.
K-pop contract renewals can be complex, with shares of BLACKPINK's agency YG Entertainment tumbling last week, after local media reports claimed member Lisa had rejected a renewal offer.
They subsequently bounced back, although the agency has yet to announce details of new contracts for BLACKPINK -- one of K-pop's most successful girl groups.
H.E.Young--AMWN