Kim Tong-hyung, Associated Press
Posted Monday, October 17, 2022 8:05 a.m. EDT
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Members of K-pop group BTS will perform their mandatory military duties under South Korean law, their management company announced Monday, ending a debate over the issue of whether they should receive exemptions based on their artistic achievements.
Big Hit Music said that the oldest member of the group, Jin, will revoke his request to delay his conscription at the end of the month and take the necessary steps. The other six members of BTS also plan to serve in the military and “look forward to reuniting as a group again around 2025 after their service enlistment,” the company said in a statement.
No further information on the timing of their service was given. The group members performed together in Busan over the weekend in support of the city’s EXPO bid, which will be their last concert as a group until they finish serving in the military, according to their label.
Hybe Corp., Big Hit’s parent company, said in an email to The Associated Press that each member of the group will focus on planned individual activities around their military service plans for the time being.
In a letter to shareholders, Hybe CEO Park Jiwon downplayed financial concerns over BTS’s hiatus, saying it has a wide enough lineup of artists, including other popular K-groups. pop such as Le Sserafim and NewJeans and western artists Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande. .
“We have always been aware of the possibility of compulsory military service, and we have been preparing for a long time to be ready for this moment,” Park wrote. “In the short term, individual activities for several of the members are planned in the first half of 2023, and we have secured content in advance, which will allow BTS to continue its engagement with fans for the foreseeable future.”
The announcement came after Lee Ki Sik, commissioner of the Military Manpower Administration, told lawmakers this month that it would be “desirable” for BTS members to fulfill their military duties to ensure fairness in the country’s military service.
After enlistment, Jin and other BTS members will receive five weeks of combat training before being assigned to specific units and tasks, according to Military Personnel Administration officials, who pointed out that the singers would follow the same process as other South Korean men.
While the South Korean military had for years assigned enlisted artists to duties related to the production of radio and television material promoting the military, the “entertainment soldier” system was retired in 2013 to the result of fairness complaints.
Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said in August that if BTS members joined the military, they would likely be allowed to continue practicing and join the group for overseas tours.
Whether BTS members should serve in the military has been a hotly debated issue in South Korea as Jin faces enlistment early next year. Jin turns 30 in December, the age at which men can no longer delay enlistment. The other members are currently between 25 and 29 years old, with Suga turning 30 in March.
Under South Korean law, most able-bodied men are required to complete 18 to 21 months of military service, but special exemptions have been granted to athletes and entertainers who excel in certain international competitions linked to national prestige.
The group – its other members being J-Hope, RM, Jungkook, V and Jimin – was launched in 2013 and has a legion of global supporters who call themselves “the Army”.
After building a huge following in Asia, BTS expanded their popularity in the West with their 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the group’s first all-English song that made them the first K-pop act to top Billboard’s Hot 100. The band has performed to sold-out arenas around the world and has even been invited to speak at United Nations meetings.
Since the South Korea project interrupts young men in their professional careers or studies, the avoidance of military duties or the creation of exemptions is a very sensitive issue. Opinion polls in recent weeks have shown that the public is divided on whether BTS members should serve in the military.
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