BTS targets No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 with latest release

Having already set a litany of new records for the K-pop industry, BTS is now aiming higher: grabbing the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart and ultimately on the highly competitive Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.

On Friday, the massive successful K-pop group released its third studio album "Love Yourself: Tear," the third of their four-staged Love Yourself-themed record series.

Within less than one week after the album's release, the boy band has renewed its own records set for the K-pop scene. The album claimed the top spot on iTunes' Top Albums charts in 65 countries, including the U.S., Australia and Brazil upon its release. Preorders already amount to over 1.5 million copies, surpassing the total pre-release sales of the band's previous album "Love Yourself: Her."

The Billboard magazine said on Wednesday the new album is expected to challenge for the top spot on next week's Billboard 200.

_BTS poses for a photo session during a press conference on May 24, 2018. (Yonhap)

"Numbers are not so important," team leader RM said initially after being asked to give BTS' numerical goals for the latest album in a press conference at a hotel in central Seoul on Thursday. "(But) with the latest album, our goal is, our members have sometime discussed off the record, the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart."

As with the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, RM said the band is aiming to enter the top spot, since its "Mic Drop" previously landed in the 28th spot there.

"First we will aim to enter the top ten, which is known to be concrete, and then we will dream about becoming the No. 1," he said. "Becoming the No. 1 at the Hot 100 is our goal."

On top of crowing the charts, member Suga expressed far more ambitious hope that the team can go to the Grammy Awards, do stadium tours and become the most influential signers in the world.

"It will be hard to have them all, but it's better to dream as big as possible," he said.

Members Jin (L) and Jungkook pose for photos during a press conference on May 24, 2018. (Yonhap)

Unlike the first two parts of the series -- "Love Yourself: Her" and "Love Yourself: Wonder" -- which dealt with the throbbing and fluttering of love, the latest album depicted the pain of separation, RM said.

"It is saying that a fake love you made up falsely eventually ends up in separation. The message is that loving yourself is the key to any sort of love," he noted.

On Sunday in the United States, BTS scooped up its second Billboard Music Award in the Top Artist category and staged its first live performance of the album's main track "Fake Love" at the U.S. award show.

The members said they were "thrilled" by their Billboard victory, as well as the roaring response shown by their fans at the performance.

"We couldn't imagine at all that we could perform on the Billboard stage," member Jin said. "It was a very thrilling moment. We were really encouraged by the presence of so many Armies," he said, referring to BTS fans.

BTS leader RM speaks at a press conference on May 24, 2018. (Yonhap)

"We have often been asked why we are so loved," RM said. "The causes may be our attempt to reach out through social media as idols and entertainers, as well as the new media that translated our Korean (content) to many different national (languages) that were again spread through YouTube," he noted.

BTS members also "have stuck to our initial thinking that we started with the music we love, and we are a performance group," according to the team leader.

Main dancer and rapper J-Hope said, "Meeting with artists I admire -- Taylor Swift, Pharrell Williams, DJ Khaled and John Legend -- was as thrilling as the award (at the BBMAs). I was very proud and honored."

Members Jimin (L) and J-Hope pose for photos during a press conference on May 24, 2018. (Yonhap)

At the same time, the boy band has been under "immense pressure and fatigue" to come up with a new full-length album just eight months after the release of its last EP in September, Suga said.

"Despite that, (singers) have to return to the stage simultaneously as the album is released in the South Korean music industry. So I think we need to take care of our own mentality and health to do that. There's no way but marching forward despite the fatigue and pressure that grow after each release."

The group members also have "inner competition" between them, a force that motivates the members to work harder and try new music styles, he said, adding that each member is currently working on their own separate mixtapes to be released in the future.

Members V (L) and Suga listen to a reporter's question during a press conference on May 24, 2018. (Yonhap)

Member Jimin also talked about death threats he faced on the internet. "I was taken aback by the news of the second death threat following the one last year," he said. "I have no room for them. (Fans) also don't need to worry because our staff is protecting (me)," he noted.

With their two-day domestic concert set for Aug. 25-26, BTS will go on an arena tour of 10 cities in six countries to promote the latest album.

[풀영상] BTS(방탄소년단) 'FAKE LOVE' Press Conference (LOVE YOURSELF 轉 Tear, 페이크 러브)

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