In an announcement made today(October 17, 2022), it was stated that the K-Pop sensation BTS will begin their procedures for enlisting in the South Korean military soon. The enlistment will start with the oldest member of the group Kim Soek-Jin who is popularly known as Jin.
K-Pop Stars Bts to Do Military Service
The announcement was posted by Bighit Music, which is the label that oversees the band BTS. A solo album featuring the BTS star Jin is all set to release by the end of this month. The enlistment will proceed only after the release of the single album.
“BigHit Music is proud to announce today that the members of BTS are currently moving forward with plans to fulfill their military service. After the phenomenal concert to support Busan’s bid for the World Expo 2030, and as each individual embarks on solo endeavors, it’s a perfect time and the members of BTS are honored to serve,” read the official statement from Big Hit Music.
Further details about the enlistment of the other members are not made official as of now, but it is speculated that the enlistment will follow the order of their age, with the youngest member making the last enlistment. If that is the order to be followed, then the list will go in the order of Jin, followed by Suga, J-hope, RM, Jimmin, V, and finally Jungkook.
South Korea is one among many nations where military service is mandatory for its people. According to the rule in South Korea, all abled men aged 18 or older are requested to enlist in the military before the age of 28 and to serve in the military for 18 to 21 months in most cases.
As per the present rules in South Korea, no one is exempt from compulsory military service. Only a very small section of elite athletes like Olympic medal winners or winners of music or other artistic contests are free from this law. After becoming such a worldwide sensation, the question of whether the BTS should or should not serve in the military was a huge political discussion in South Korea.
With discussions on the topic, there had been many different views about whether BTS should or should not serve in the military. According to reports, some people say that the BTS contribute a great deal to the country’s economy and that they should be allowed to continue doing what they do and that efforts should be made for them to serve the public community in any other form.
While some people support this view, some people oppose this view. According to them, no one can be treated differently just because they have a successful career. It is argued that when there are even students who undergo compulsory enlistment, the singers are nothing different from others.
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Taking all the arguments that followed the issues into consideration, the South Korean government passed a law in 2020. As per the terms of this law, people who have contributed much to Korean pop culture can delay their compulsory military service up to the age of 30. This law came to be known as the BTS law in Soth Korea.
Almost every sector of the government favors the BTS and excludes them from compulsory military enlistment. The BTS is one of the main marketing techniques used by many popular South Korean brands such as Samsung and Hyundai. It is estimated that the contributions from the BTS through sales and other means ever since they debuted in 2014 will be over billions. The former Soth Korean politician and President Moon Jae-in had the BTS accompany him as his special envoy at the 2021 United Nations General Assembly. Such was the popularity of the band.
The only government wing that does not want to exempt BTS from compulsory military enlistment is the Defense ministry. The minister for defense has made it clear that it would be difficult to find a fair alternative service to compensate for the military enlistment of the K-Pop stars. The defense ministry has openly expressed its worry regarding the declining population in South Korea. Recent statistics about the population show that there is a decline in the number of youngsters which can affect the military strength of the nation. The political situation in South Korea is also not that peaceful, with its northern counterpart preparing heavily for a potential war. The feud between North and South Korea has been going on for decades now.
With their oldest member Jin moving forward with the procedures for military enlistments, the rest of the band members are expected to follow according to their plan. As they move forward with military enlistment, it means that the band will temporarily become inactive. According to Bighits, the band plans to reconvene later in 2025.