[News Culture] BTS is bringing Korean visual heritage into its latest merchandise collection, pairing the group’s “Dalmajung” brand with the National Museum Foundation of Korea’s MU label for a second collaboration built around munjado, the Joseon-era tradition of pictorial character painting.
HYBE announced Wednesday that “2026 BTS DALMAJUNG Merch.” will be released on Sept. 29 in partnership with the foundation. The collection marks the fourth edition of Dalmajung, a project launched in 2021 to reinterpret elements of Korean traditional culture through BTS’ visual identity.
The new release also extends the partnership with MU, the National Museum Foundation of Korea’s cultural-product brand. Their first collaboration in 2024 incorporated Korean heritage objects including the Pensive Bodhisattva into contemporary merchandise. This year’s project shifts its focus to munjado, connecting the folk-art tradition more directly with BTS’ music and recent album narrative.
At the center of the collection is ARIRANG, BTS’ fifth full-length album, and the phrase “흉즉대길” (hyungjeuk daegil) from the album track “Aliens.” The expression conveys the paradoxical idea that apparent misfortune can ultimately turn toward great fortune. That theme is paired with the symbolic language of munjado, in which characters and pictorial motifs were traditionally used to convey wishes for happiness, longevity and other virtues.
HYBE and the foundation developed an original form of “Hangul munjado” for the project, combining traditional imagery such as cranes, deer and clouds with three central references: BTS, ARIRANG and “흉즉대길.” Rather than reproducing historical designs, the collection adapts their visual grammar into a contemporary system tied specifically to the group’s identity.
The concept runs through 13 products designed with everyday use in mind. Among them are a miniature broom associated with sweeping in good fortune, a ceramic jar conceived around the idea of cleansing energy, and protective magnets drawing on traditional apotropaic symbolism.
A HYBE IPX executive said the collaboration allowed the company to connect ARIRANG—an album rooted in BTS’ identity as a group from Korea—with the cultural resources of the National Museum Foundation of Korea. The project, the executive added, offers a contemporary reading of the Confucian imagery embedded in traditional munjado while creating another visual route into the messages carried by BTS’ music.
National Museum Foundation of Korea President Yong-seok Jeong said the organizations decided to continue their partnership after the 2024 project introduced Korean cultural heritage to audiences overseas. He said the foundation plans to pursue further projects in which artists’ brands and Korean heritage can be presented together.
The collection will also be available through a dedicated pop-up at HYBE’s headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, running from Sept. 29 through Oct. 11.
Reported by News Culture M.J._mj94070777@nc.press
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