BTS Shares Details About Their Family Backgrounds And Pre-Debut Lives

Each BTS member has a distinctly different personality and family background, but together they create the perfect synergy.

In a face to face interview with WSJ. Magazine, RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V, and Jungkook shared details about their pre-debut lives with their families.

BTS’s rapper and leader RM nearly went down a completely different path, back when he was living in Ilsan. Rather than writing lyrics, RM considered going to college for journalism. He describes his first-ever song, written in 2007, as a “disaster”. At the time, RM would have been 12 or 13 years old.

I can’t even tell if the lyrics are Korean.

— RM

What is Jin’s family like? It might not surprise fans to learn that this articulate, business-savvy singer was born into a family of entrepreneurs in Gwacheon.

Jin: “My family is all in business, so they’re all good speakers.”

V: “You’ve got your mom’s way with words.”

— WSJ. Magazine

In another life, Suga (BTS’s Daegu-born rapper), might have met RM as a fellow journalist. His father encouraged him to pursue journalism, but Suga’s true love is music. He wrote his first song at age 13.

Like several of his members, Suga doesn’t come from a musical family, but there is some love for the arts in his genes; his mother took up drawing in her 60s, and Suga began learning to paint this year.

J-Hope, who was born in Gwangju, did not follow in his parents’ footsteps; instead, he chose to pursue dance from a young age. According to WSJ. Magazine, he describes his mother as a “strong willed” woman who ran an internet his cafe, and his father was a literature teacher. Neither one danced or sang, so J-Hope isn’t sure where he gets it from.

J-Hope: “I used to wonder how I could dance.”

Jin: “His dad’s quite strict.”

— WSJ. Magazine

Jimin’s father saw his son growing up to be a prosecutor. He was an athletic child from Busan who considered becoming a police officer but ultimately decided to dance professionally instead.

V, who hails from Daegu, is one of the only BTS members who has fellow artists in his family. His father once dreamed of becoming famous, and Jin described him as “super-talented”. Like father, like son!

Jungkook also comes from an artistically inclined family, from Busan. He inherited his golden vocals from his parents, who both like to sing. Jungkook is a multi-talented artist who likes to draw, and so does his older brother, who is an illustrator.