K-pop idol group BTS member Suga will be attending the New Year’s Eve concert of artists under Big Hit labels, his first official activity in nearly two months after undergoing surgery for his torn shoulder tissue.
Big Hit Entertainment announced last month that Suga underwent surgery on Nov. 3 “to repair his torn shoulder labrum,” a problem which started when he was injured in an accident in 2012 before he made his debut in BTS and he was diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder in 2013.
“The shoulder labrum is a thick piece of tissue attached to the rim of the shoulder socket that helps keep the ball of the joint in place,” according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine website.
On Dec. 28, Suga held a Naver V Live broadcast to update fans on his health and to announce that he will be attending the 2021 New Year’s Eve Live online concert featuring BTS, NU’EST, TXT, GFriend, ENHYPEN, Lee Hyun and Bumzu.
The non-face-to-face concert will be held at 9:30 p.m. (KST) on Dec. 31 at KINTEX, or the Korea International Exhibition Center, in Goyang in Gyeonggi province, South Korea.
“I'm recovering well so I guess I can appear on New Year's Eve Live but I can't perform. I can't perform physically. I guess I can do something other than performing. It's been less than two months since I had the surgery. I can't hold the mic with my left arm. I guess I can hold it with my right arm,” he said.
Suga said, “I should start carrying out some schedule as I received recovery treatment.”
Big Hit Entertainment, BTS’ agency, also confirmed to Korean media that Suga will be at the New Year’s Eve concert.
About the event, he said “we have a bigger family this year. Not just us but there are many more artists who will perform. All the artists will pre-record at a different time so don't worry.”
“I’m recovering well,” Suga assured millions of fans who tuned in to his online broadcast.
He said, “I got rid of my arm brace. But I can't lift my arms up to 90 degrees yet. I still feel that they are not my arms. My arms are like the arms of a newborn baby. I can't lift my arms now. It's not painful. It still hurts though because all of my muscles are stiff.”
“I knew that it was going to take a long time to recover. I was told it will take six months. I'm receiving recovery treatment continuously. I'm trying to move only to the extent that I can. I'm doing various exercises. I'm getting better. But I'm recovering at a slow speed. It's recovering slower than weight exercise,” Suga said.
He added, “So I'm a little anxious but I'm still working out continuously. I work out continuously such as band exercise. Every hospital provides different treatment. In the hospital that I received surgery they don't force me to extend the motion range. So I'm using my arms to the extent that I can move. It hurts.”
Suga told fans, “Everyone, don't worry. I just feel uncomfortable because I can't use my left arm properly. I need to be careful. I can't lift anything properly right now. I can't lift heavy objects. I've been suffering because of this arm for a long time. It's obvious that it's painful after the surgery.”
“My arm didn't get big only on one side. My left arm shrank. I have asymmetric arms now. I can play the guitar but I can't change the chords quickly,” he said.
He said BTS members contacted him after his surgery, saying, “We have a group chat room. Jimin called me after the surgery when I wasn't fully awake from anesthesia. He asked me if I was OK. I said I was OK.”
The Johns Hopkins Medicine website stated that recovery for such surgery can take “at least four to six weeks for the labrum to reattach itself to the rim of the bone, and probably another four to six weeks to get strong. Once the labrum has healed to the rim of the bone, it should see stress very gradually so that it can gather strength. It is important not to reinjure it while it is healing.”
Suga said he is “always busy at every end of the year but not this year so I feel really bored. I really want to perform on stage.”
When he was asked what is the most memorable thing for him that happened in 2020, he answered, “It's 'Dynamite.' It was a career high for us.”
“Dynamite” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard Hot 100 and became BTS’ ticket in bagging their first Grammy nomination for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance last November.
For 2021, he said, “I will start learning English. I will study English harder. I will play the guitar again. I want to perform with all the members on stage, too.”
“My new year wish in 2021 is to end this pandemic and make everyone healthy,” Suga said.