{"id":489864,"date":"2026-01-03T17:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/489864\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T17:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T17:03:12","slug":"jung-kook-no-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/489864\/","title":{"rendered":"Jung Kook: No Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many questions surrounding Jung Kook<\/a>, global pop star and one of the most famous faces on the planet. About the 18 months the BTS member spent in uniform, mostly out of sight and in the kitchen, serving his military conscription as a cook. About what it feels like to step back into the spotlight as a bona fide soloist and part of 21st-century pop icons BTS. About the music being quietly made for the group\u2019s next album in Los Angeles, and what their return might look and sound like. Yet when we meet in a sunlit studio on New York\u2019s West Side for his global cover shoot, Jung Kook is more focused on the everyday details \u2013 like what he\u2019ll eat today. And oh, has he been thinking about it. \u201cThese days, I\u2019m on a diet and only eat one meal a day,\u201d he shares with a hint of a smile. \u201cSo I really look forward to that one meal. I find myself thinking, \u2018What should I eat today?\u2019 and waiting with patience. When I finally eat, I feel a sense of achievement.\u201d <\/p>\n

Today, that meal is still ahead of him: a dish from a local Korean fusion restaurant that a friend recommended. A late lunch, early dinner \u2013 breakfast, technically. With his schedule, there\u2019s no set time for meals; he eats when he can. For now, he\u2019s on autopilot. Jung Kook has been a global ambassador for Calvin Klein since spring 2023 and has just come from a surprise appearance in the label\u2019s Spring\/Summer show in lower Manhattan.\u202f<\/p>\n

Read next<\/p>\n

Jung Kook lives in the here and now. He doesn\u2019t like to dwell on the past or philosophise about the future. When he notices a stack of Rolling Stone magazines on the table in front of him, his own face peering from the cover, he winces playfully at his younger, blonder self. \u201cWho is that guy?\u201d he says, laughing. \u201cWhy did they choose this as the cover?\u201d Seeing that version of himself sparks no sentimentality. He only shakes his head and laughs again, unwilling to linger too long on someone he no longer is. \u201cI don\u2019t like the past,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m enjoying right now.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Perhaps such an outlook is inevitable when your teenage years, your twenties, your entire becoming, have been documented and broadcast to millions. The photos, the videos, the performances \u2013 they create versions of you that can\u2019t be outgrown. Every iteration of Jeon Jung Kook lives somewhere: on screens, in songs, on the covers of magazines, in the memories of strangers. To some, he\u2019ll always be the baby-faced maknae \u2013 K-pop slang for the youngest member of a group \u2013 with a toothy smile. To others, he\u2019s a 28-year-old man who is still unfolding in real time, tattooed and assured.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He describes himself as pragmatic, or a \u201crealist\u201d, as he puts it. It sounds more like self-preservation. When so much of you has already been recorded, archived and analysed, the only control left is over this moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That may explain his minimal relationship with regular social media networks. In 2023, he deactivated his personal Instagram account \u2013 tens of millions of followers gone in an instant \u2013 explaining simply that he \u201cdidn\u2019t use it much\u201d. He quietly returned in July 2025, launching a new account that, months later, still sits empty. No posts, no captions, just 14 million followers waiting for something that may never come.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

In contrast, he regularly updates his dog Bam\u2019s Instagram account, which has nearly eight million followers. It\u2019s a gallery of tender, carefully composed pet portraits. For someone whose own image has been replicated endlessly, photography allows him to look outwards, to observe rather than perform. It gives him another way to exist in the present. To see without being seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He shares more intimate glimpses of his life two to three times a month on Weverse, the global superfan platform set up by HYBE, the parent company of BTS record label BIGHIT MUSIC. Even at his most private, Jung Kook\u2019s life unfolds in public. When he opens a livestream on Weverse, millions join instantly \u2013 to watch him eat, watch a movie, or just sit in silence. Sometimes he sings; sometimes he says nothing at all. In one now-legendary moment, he accidentally fell asleep mid-broadcast, nearly six million people quietly watching him doze \u2013 a pop star at rest, the world holding its breath so as not to wake him.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

That paradox, to be seen by everyone yet grounded in himself, is what anchors him now. Jung Kook doesn\u2019t overthink; he moves by feel. It\u2019s there in the way he speaks, deliberate but unguarded, and in the quietly magnetic way he carries himself. Offstage, he\u2019s surprisingly still. \u201cWhen I\u2019m not onstage, I try to keep my mind empty and avoid overthinking,\u201d he says. \u201cI pour out my inspiration when I\u2019m working on an album or preparing for a performance. But in daily life, I prefer to keep things simple and think in a straightforward way.\u201d On the set of his cover shoot, that ease becomes something almost mechanical, like a rhythm his body knows by heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watching him move through shoot poses with practised dexterity \u2013 hand lifted to his jaw, shutter click; chin tilted towards the light, shutter click; jacket slipped off one shoulder, shutter click; eyes narrowing into a smoulder, shutter click; a sudden laugh breaking the spell, shutter click \u2013 it\u2019s clear this is all muscle memory, the product of more than a decade spent in front of cameras, trained to maximise every moment.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

At 15, he became the youngest member of BTS, the group that would go from underdog rookies to undeniable global phenoms in less than five years. He was still a teenager when the \u201cgolden maknae\u201d label stuck, shorthand for a young prodigy who can do it all: sing, dance, rap, even \u2013 as time would show \u2013 direct.\u202fYears later, he\u2019d film \u2018Life Goes On\u2019, the group\u2019s 2020 slice-of-life music video that turned a global pause into something quietly human. It wasn\u2019t his first time behind the camera. Under the label G.C.F, short for Golden Closet Film, Jung Kook had been filming and editing his own travel vlogs for years: intimate, handheld glimpses of life in motion \u2013 shopping in Tokyo, working out in a hotel gym in Budapest, filming his bandmates on the beaches of Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands. The clips reveal a director\u2019s eye for rhythm and light, for soft moments and fleeting gestures, and an undeniable instinct for finding truth in transition.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the early days, time blurred differently. Days were packed with rehearsals, variety show tapings and small showcases that gave way, almost imperceptibly, to world tours and stadium stages. What feels like second nature on today\u2019s set \u2013 the nods of understanding, the quick adjustments, the simple efficiency and pleasantries \u2013 was forged in those years, when every second of practice was meant to close the gap between BTS and the industry giants they were up against.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"(Picture: Tayo Kuku Jr) <\/p>\n

That period has since hardened into legend. The story of BTS has been told and retold: seven young men from a small label, dismissed at debut, fighting for space in an industry dominated by picture-perfect idols from much larger companies. They were not meant to upend the system. They were not supposed to storm the charts in Korea, let alone America. And yet, with relentless dedication and an almost defiant belief in one another, they did. In 2018, LOVE YOURSELF \u8f49 \u2018Tear\u2019 became the first Korean album to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, paving the way for five more albums that achieved the same feat \u2013 among them 2020\u2019s MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, which sold 4.1 million copies in just nine days in South Korea. Six of their singles have likewise hit the top of the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2020 and 2021, they became the first artists ever to top the IFPI Global Recording Artist chart two years in a row. Such milestones cemented the group\u2019s place in the pop pantheon and set the stage for K-pop\u2019s global ascent.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

BTS went from performing in cramped broadcast studios and fan-sign halls to selling out stadiums across continents, from variety-show punchlines to Grammy nominees, and from sharing a single bedroom to owning their own luxury homes in Seoul. Their mythology is stitched together from countless hours of choreography drills, late-night livestreams over a pot of jjukkumi (webfoot octopus) and pork belly, and songs that bared their anxieties as openly as their ambitions. For fans, those moments became scripture: the sweat on rehearsal-room floors, the tears at award shows, the victories hard-won.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And at the centre of it all was Jung Kook: the youngest, the maknae, a boy growing into himself under the glare of global attention.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

J<\/strong>ung Kook was born in Busan, a port city on South Korea\u2019s southeastern coast, known for its beaches and bustle. The youngest son in a close-knit family, he was a shy kid with a vivid imagination \u2013 someone more inclined to sketch, play sports, or lose himself in daydreams than seek the spotlight. That changed the day he saw a K-pop performance on television. He was drawn to the idols\u2019 charisma and energy. For the first time, he could imagine himself in that world. When he was 13, he auditioned for Korean talent show Superstar K and didn\u2019t make it, but his potential was undeniable: several agencies came calling. One of these was BIGHIT MUSIC. Watching a video of fellow BTS member RM rapping sealed the deal for Jung Kook, and he left home for Seoul to train as a singer. It was a decision that would transform both his adolescence and his sense of time. The rhythms of childhood gave way to practice. Life was no longer measured in seasons, but in hours of rehearsal.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite being the youngest in the group, he rarely acted like it. Even in the earliest footage \u2013 a teenager in oversized hoodies and round cheeks, bowing to the camera with a mix of shyness and determination \u2013 there\u2019s a flicker of professionalism, of someone already studying how to be great. The older members teased him for being shy, for practising for too long, for saying little and expressing more through motion. What looked like natural talent was, in reality, a kind of obsession: a hunger to keep up, to prove he could belong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As BTS grew, so did he. Even if growing up hardly describes what happens when your adolescence unfolds on world tours and livestreams. The rehearsal rooms became his classroom, the stage his only constant. His voice deepened, his movements sharpened, his edges softened. He learned to hold himself with quiet control, to translate emotion into precision. The nickname golden maknae stuck, but the myth hid how hard he had worked to live up to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For all of the playful teasing from his bandmates \u2013 about how they \u201craised\u201d him and walked him to and from school in his bright yellow uniform \u2013 there\u2019s something bittersweet beneath the image: a boy trying to bridge the gap between youth and adulthood under stage lights.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s hinted at that tension in his own work. In his 2020 solo track \u2018My Time\u2019, a smooth R&B tune from the BTS album MAP OF THE SOUL: 7, he wrote about being out of sync with the world, chasing a life that seemed to be running ahead of him. \u201cI feel as though I\u2019ve become an adult faster than anyone,\u201d he sings. The song reads like a confession from someone who spent his early years sprinting towards success before he\u2019d even caught up with himself.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just three years later, Jung Kook made his solo debut with \u2018Seven (feat. Latto)\u2019, the most defining moment of his career so far. \u201cWorking on the song \u2018Seven\u2019 felt like the most important and special moment for me,\u201d he says. \u201cThat song is what allowed me to continue working up to now.\u201d Before that, he was stuck in limbo. After years of constant output with BTS, nothing he heard or worked on for his solo debut felt right. \u201cEverything felt like a hassle,\u201d he admits.\u202fThen along came the song, and suddenly the spark returned. \u201c\u2018Seven\u2019 made me want to get back to it,\u201d he says.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Jung Kook wears Calvin Klein (Picture: Tayo Kuku Jr) <\/p>\n

A summer release, \u2018Seven (feat. Latto)\u2019 landed like a jolt. Its breezy acoustic strum and UK garage pulse masked something more intimate, even provocative. This was a pop idol shedding the myth of innocence, claiming the fullness of adulthood in his own voice \u2013 and doing it in English, for a global audience that had already imagined a thousand versions of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The song topped global charts, including the US Billboard Hot 100, and soundtracked thousands of spicy online edits, giving Jung Kook a different kind of self-assurance. \u201cI really loved \u2018Seven\u2019 and felt confident performing it, but I was still surprised by how well it was received,\u201d he says. \u201cThat reaction gave me even more confidence.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

If \u2018My Time\u2019 was Jung Kook looking inward and reckoning with how fast he grew up, then \u2018Seven (feat. Latto)\u2019 was him looking outward, rediscovering the joy of performance. The song\u2019s playfulness, its easy sensuality and clean pop polish all pointed to an artist comfortable in his own skin. It felt like he had finally caught up with himself.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

If \u2018Seven (feat. Latto)\u2019 was Jung Kook opening the door, solo album GOLDEN was him walking through it. Released in winter 2023, the record \u2013 which has since racked up more than six billion Spotify streams \u2013 demonstrated his newfound confidence. Unlike BTS\u2019s discography, which carries the weight of sentimentality and messaging, GOLDEN was refreshingly unburdened. Jung Kook didn\u2019t write on the album, choosing instead to collaborate with an international roster of songwriters and producers who helped him move freely across genres. It was a deliberate decision, made to let him focus purely on sound, performance and pleasure. Where BTS built sprawling universes out of emotion and meaning, GOLDEN was about instinct: chasing what felt good.<\/p>\n

And so, Jung Kook treated GOLDEN like a mood board of pure feeling. Across its 11 tracks, he tried on different skins: the kinetic groove of \u20183D (feat. Jack Harlow)\u2019, the early 2000s nostalgia of \u2018Yes or No\u2019, the bright guitar line of \u2018Too Sad to Dance\u2019, and the show-stopping swagger of \u2018Standing Next to You\u2019 (later remixed with Usher). With shades of pop ranging from shimmering disco and sultry R&B to late-night balladry across its 11 tracks, it was the sound of a pop star testing his edges, finding joy in collaboration rather than authorship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sonically, \u2018Seven (feat. Latto)\u2019 had already hinted at that shift \u2013 light on its feet, deceptively simple, carried by a voice that has aged into velvet. GOLDEN expanded that palette.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For someone long labelled the \u201cgolden maknae\u201d, perfection had always been a pursuit and despite the album\u2019s success, he believes there is still room for improvement. \u201cAfter releasing my solo album GOLDEN, there were things I wished I had done better \u2013 both in the songs and the performances,\u201d he admits. \u201cBut those regrets are what motivate me to keep working harder and improving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The album deepened his hunger to refine his craft. \u201cThis is a time where I can evaluate whether I can take another leap forward,\u201d he says of his recent creative output in the studio. \u201cRather than doing the same kinds of performances or similar songs repeatedly, I\u2019m trying new things and continuing to evolve so I can show different sides of myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Jung Kook wears Calvin Klein (Picture: Tayo Kuku Jr) <\/p>\n

T<\/strong>oday, the teenager with wide, wondering eyes is long gone. In his place stands someone sharper, surer, more self-possessed: abs chiselled and arms inked in a burst of colour that climbs from his fingers to his shoulder. A snake coils around his right forearm; beneath it, veins trace the map of years spent in motion, the discipline of performance etched into skin. Each tattoo feels like another mark of ownership.<\/p>\n

Even here, dressed in a leather jacket, black tank and light-wash jeans by Calvin Klein, Jung Kook commands attention without asking for it. The cameras click, and he hardly needs direction: the years have taught him what the light wants. \u201cWe waited 18 months for him,\u201d someone from Calvin Klein says on set. So did the rest of the world.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

For a decade, that world watched him grow up in real time. The shift wasn\u2019t sudden, but cumulative: a slow claiming of space, an unlearning of permission. His transformation \u2013 the tattoos, the muscle, the unguarded gaze \u2013 isn\u2019t rebellion so much as reclamation. It\u2019s the body catching up with the person inside it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These days, that discipline has turned inwards. \u201cI\u2019ve been trying to focus more on my health,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019ve been doing a lot of physical activities like badminton, bowling and jogging.\u201d It sounds almost ordinary until you realise how rare it is for him to speak about the quiet parts of his life. He doesn\u2019t even listen to music while exercising. \u201cI prefer to focus entirely on myself.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

The way he talks about health feels like a philosophy. \u201cBefore and after my military service, the depth of my thoughts has changed,\u201d he says. \u201cMy attitude towards time has shifted as well. I try to avoid things that are bad for my body. I used to drink [alcohol], but now I\u2019m trying to refrain from it. I want to use my time more meaningfully and cherish it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His life now revolves around rhythm and repetition, and the small, steady acts that make him feel anchored. \u201cDoing something consistently, even if it\u2019s small, is more important than making a big effort just once,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery morning before I take a shower, I do some cardio, and I do the same thing before bed. That routine changes the way I approach people, the way I approach food. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and confidence because I stuck to my routine for the day.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Discipline, for Jung Kook, isn\u2019t about control so much as clarity. When asked if he feels closer to himself these days, he pauses. \u201cHonestly, I don\u2019t think I\u2019m that close to myself yet,\u201d he admits, matter-of-factly. \u201cBut hearing this question makes me realise I need to love and care for myself more. Exercising and maintaining healthy habits \u2013 that\u2019s part of the routine of loving myself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ask Jung Kook what inspires him these days, and he doesn\u2019t hesitate: \u201cI\u2019m not the type to easily find inspiration from just anywhere. When I\u2019m moved by a piece of art, I tend to apply that feeling within the same field rather than translating it into another area,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He\u2019s drawn to romance, not in a sentimental way, but in how emotion can be expressed simply. \u201cI really enjoy romantic movies like La La Land, Titanic and The Notebook,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen someone asks, \u2018What is art?\u2019 I don\u2019t think it has to be something grand or magnificent. I think art is just something created by someone who wants to make it. It\u2019s the result of that process, something you enjoy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After GOLDEN came stillness. In South Korea, all men aged 18 to 28 must complete 18 to 21 months of mandatory military service. Jung Kook\u2019s enlistment in December 2023 forced him to stop \u2013 no cameras, no stages, no music to chase. \u201cDuring my time in the military, I couldn\u2019t work on music even when I wanted to,\u201d he says. \u201cThat built up a sense of longing. It made me want to do better and deliver something great.\u201d The discipline was familiar, but the quiet was not. For the first time since he was a teenager, Jung Kook had to live without an audience.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, back in motion, he\u2019s rediscovering rhythm, both literally and figuratively. He\u2019s currently in the studio with his bandmates, \u201cpreparing for the upcoming BTS album\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to the next BTS album, the promotions I\u2019ll do with the members, and being able to meet ARMY [BTS\u2019 official fandom] again,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m also excited for the work I\u2019ll do as a solo artist. I want to learn more about dance and improve, especially in street dance.\u201d\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even in the rare pauses between projects, Jung Kook doesn\u2019t idle. He\u2019s rehearsing, recording, chasing new experiences, constantly testing where the next step might lead. \u201cI\u2019ve always pursued change,\u201d he explains. That drive isn\u2019t frantic; it\u2019s focused. He\u2019s learned to move with intention, to create his own rhythm instead of being swept up in someone else\u2019s. \u201cI want to be an artist who doesn\u2019t get dragged by the flow, but creates the flow,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be confined \u2013 I want to be an artist without limits.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

Taken from Issue 026 of Rolling Stone UK. You can buy Jung Kook\u2019s cover here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits: Styling by Kim Youngjin
Makeup by Kim Dareum
Hair by Park Naejoo
Chief producer: Kanako Mori
Production coordinator: Kary H.Rho (Suddenly Pictures)
Post production by Mari Ohara
Interpreter\/Interview: Haye Lee
Special thanks: Jacky (Calvin Klein)<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are many questions surrounding Jung Kook, global pop star and one of the most famous faces on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":489865,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2859,171,220956,975,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-489864","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-bts","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-jungkook","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115832254149600133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489864"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489864\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}