BTS members test positive for COVID

Three members of the South Korean K-pop sensation BTS have been diagnosed with coronavirus after returning from abroad.

Rapper RM and vocalist Jin tested positive for the virus on Saturday evening, the group's management agency Big Hit Music said.

Earlier, the agency announced that another member, Suga, received positive COVID-19 test results on Friday while self-quarantining but was asymptomatic and "administering self-care at home."

The seven-member superstar boy band recently returned from the United States, where they held their first in-person concerts since the start of the pandemic.

The concerts were held in Los Angeles from late November to the beginning of December.

The band members had been on vacation since the end of their concert series. Each of the three infected artists returned to South Korea on different dates, and the three members are fully vaccinated.

How are the band members feeling?

While RM appears to be asymptomatic, Jin has reported mild symptoms with light fever and is undergoing self-treatment at home, the agency said in its statement.

On Friday, Big Hit Music had said that Suga was not showing any symptoms.

RM had tested negative after returning from the US but was diagnosed with COVID-19 ahead of his release from self-quarantine, the agency said.

Jin took two COVID-19 tests upon his arrival and before his release from self-isolation, testing negative both times.

However, he exhibited flu-like symptoms on Saturday afternoon and took another test that returned positive.

The US and South Korea are witnessing surging COVID-19 cases as the omicron variant of the virus spreads worldwide.

Big Hit Music said it places the "highest priority on the health and safety of our artists."

BTS gained global fandom with their super-hit single "Dynamite" that was placed number one on the Billboard Hot 100 last year.

In October, their collaboration with British rock band Coldplay, "My Universe,'' reached  No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it BTS' sixth Hot 100 No. 1.

dvv/rs (AFP, AP)