BTS’ ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’ is Certified Gold in the US

K-pop superstars BTS has earned their second gold album in the United States!

According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), their latest album "Map of the Soul: Persona" has already been certified gold as of August 23 after selling over half a million units in the country.

This same milestone was first earned by BTS with their 2018 album "Love Yourself: Answer." They were the first K-pop act to reach record-breaking achievement.

In February 2018, they also made history when they became the first K-pop outfit to have earned a gold certification for a song. The certified-gold single was "MIC Drop" and it went platinum nine months after.

For RIAA, one album unit is equivalent to one album sale, or 10 tracks sold off the album. It can also be tantamount to 1,500 on-demand video and/or audio streams of the album.

Released on April 12 this year, "Map of the Soul: Persona" is fronted by BTS' chart-topping collaboration with Halsey, "Boy With Luv." It also includes the songs "Intro: Persona," "Mikrokosmos," "Make It Right," "HOME," "Jamais Vu," and "Dionysus."

The critically- and commercially-acclaimed album has also become the third-longest-charting K-pop album in the music history in the United States at 16 weeks. The group also holds the first two and fourth spots of the said record, with "Love Yourself: Answer" (48 weeks), "Love Yourself: Her" (44 weeks), and "Love Yourself: Tear" (15 weeks).

In an earlier press conference, leader RM shared that "Map of the Soul: Persona" is the band's way of speaking about the force that brought them to where they are now.

"We have been talking about how loving ourselves is the beginning of true love. Now, we want to talk about the strength that brought us here, its source and its shadow too, and the 'tomorrow' we need to face through our strength," he added, adding that they "wanted to speak about love, which is the power that lifted us until this point."

As for the group's next project, their agency Big Hit Entertainment has revealed earlier this week that they are set to unveil a BTS Universe TV show. As part of this endeavor, a K-drama series is slated for release in the first half of next year.