PUBLISHED ONAugust 14, 20264:02 AM
BTS star V is being treated for hearing loss, after a lengthy battle to get diagnosed.
The 30-year-old singer, whose real name Kim Tae-hyung, opened up about his health struggle in the band’s livestream on Wednesday (Aug 12).
V said it was when he served his mandatory military service in South Korea that he started noticing a loss in hearing, but added he first thought it was a “matter of mental strength”.
However, he then realised it was more serious than he’d first anticipated.
V, who joined the military in 2023 and was discharged in June 2025, told fans he is now taking medication and having regular checkups in hospital.
He explained: “If the hearing in my left ear is at 100, it’s only about 30 in my right.”
BTS had to take a hiatus so that the members could complete their military service, a requirement of all able-bodied men in South Korea.
Speaking about his time in the military, singer J-Hope previously told GQ magazine: “Being put into a totally different world for us and adapting was, of course, difficult.”
“But humans are funny because they learn to adapt pretty quickly. I do feel that I have become healthier, and I got to learn more about life and different sides of society. I also got to know a lot of new people, which was a big plus.”
“And being in the military and serving in the military is something that every man in South Korea goes through.”
Upon returning to the spotlight, the K-pop group launched their The Arirang World Tour, which kicked off in April in South Korea and will see BTS perform 79 dates in total, in cities such as Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Singapore, London, Mexico and Hong Kong.
But the tour is already taking a toll on members of the group, with Jungkook admitting a shin injury he’s been struggling with has gotten so bad that he’s “on the verge of developing a stress fracture”.
BTSSouth KoreamusiccelebritieskpopHealth and Wellbeing
