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Global superstars BTS said they are taking time to focus on solo projects, but the company behind the groundbreaking K-pop group said they are not taking a hiatus.

The seven-member group with hits like "Butter" and "Dynamite" talked about their future in a video posted on Tuesday celebrating the nine-year anniversary of their debut release.

They just released a three-disc anthology album, "Proof," last week.

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Band member Suga asked the group if they should talk about why they were going into a hiatus as they sat down for a group dinner.

They discussed having to deal with COVID-19 interrupting their touring plans and music releases, as well as what each one thought about their individual artistic goals.

The group spoke in Korean, and the word "hiatus" was used on English subtitles included on the video.

But a statement from Hybe, the South Korean entertainment company behind BTS, said they'll still be working on projects as a group, as well as individually.

"BTS are not taking a hiatus. Members will be focusing more on solo projects at this time," the statement said.

No details about future BTS collaborations or the solo projects were announced.

BTS has a global fanbase that follows the group and members online and in recent years the group's profile has rose overseas.

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The group recently address the UN General Assembly and went to the White House to discuss with President Joe Biden ways to curb violence against Asian Americans.

The band members, J-Hope, RM, Suga, Jungkook, V, Jin and Jimin, opened up about the struggle to develop as individual artists within the K-pop genre.

"The problem with K-pop and the whole idol system is that don't give you time to mature," said RM.

Some of the group members appeared to be crying during the conversation.

Band member V recalled a conversation he had with J-Hope in which they discussed how working on solo projects would improve their "synergy" as a band.

Suga described an interest in trying out new genres.

"We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience a lot of things," said Jung Kook to their fans.

"We promise we will return someday even more mature than we are now."

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Qantas is planning to allow travellers on some international flights without masks despite face coverings remaining mandatory on domestic services.

It comes as mask mandates in terminals will lift from Saturday after an Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) recommendation yesterday.

Travellers will still be required to wear masks on all flights, however, the AHPPC said it will issue further advice on this in the future.

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Qantas welcomed the AHPPC recommendation and called for the next step to be removing mask mandates onboard flights.

"Global studies show the risk of transmission inside aircraft cabins is very low due to the air being refreshed every few minutes, in addition to forward facing seats and HEPA filters which capture 99 per cent of airborne particles," Qantas said in a statement.

"The Qantas Group intends to soon update our onboard mask policy for international flights to align with the rules at the destination."

Masks are no longer mandatory on flights to the US, UK and Europe and Qantas plans to lift the face-covering requirements to these destinations.

However, mask mandates are different in each country, meaning travellers may need to wear a mask on one part of their journey but not another.

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Qantas acknowledged these variable mask rules may cause confusion for customers, especially with connecting flights, and have called on governments for more consistency.

"We'll continue to make masks available on board all our flights and appreciate that some customers may wish to continue wearing them for the duration of their journey regardless of the international rules that apply," Qantas said.

Qantas still requires all international travellers to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination on flights.

There are warnings today that China is one step closer to establishing a military base in the Solomon Islands after President Xi Jinping authorised an expansion of his country's armed forces.

State-backed Chinese media said Xi had signed new trial guidelines that allowed for Chinese "armed forces operations" that were not warfare.

They came into effect on Wednesday.

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But security experts told 9News the move was the latest in a series of assertive steps by Beijing to expands it power in the Pacific region.

"China is laying the groundwork for a military base in the Solomon Islands … something it could establish quite quickly," Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said.

He said the new trial powers for China's military were in line with Beijing's goals in the Pacific.

The superpower recently gained the power to safeguard its investments in the Solomon Islands by force through a controversial security agreement with the small Pacific nation.

State media said Xi's guidelines would define the Chinese military's role in some its existing operations such as peacekeeping, disaster relief and humanitarian aid missions.

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"Chinese troops can prevent spillover effects of regional instabilities from affecting China, secure vital transport routes for strategic materials like oil, or safeguard China's overseas investments, projects and personnel," the Global Times reported.

But Davis said the new powers for China's People's Liberation Army were another example of "grey warfare" – coercive state-backed actions that fall short of conventional warfare.

The move by Xi to ratify non-combat "military operations" comes just months after Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine under the pretense of a "special military operation".

Security expert John Blaxland, a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University in Canberra, told 9News the move by Xi went beyond legalising the role of China's military in humanitarian missions overseas.

"It shows China is taking a more proactive, more combative approach," he said.

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Australia should respond by becoming more engaged with Pacific nations to counter the Chinese push, he said.

The subject of China's growing power will be discussed today by Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart during talks in Tokyo.

"China is seeking to shape the world around it in a way that it has not done before. That makes our strategic circumstances complex," Marles said yesterday.

Earlier this week, Marles met Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe in Singapore in the first ministerial in-person meeting between the two countries for more than two years.

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