The countdown begins: All seven BTS members are now serving in military service
Fans of the K-pop band BTS have known for years that a day would come when the seven members would all serve mandatory service in the South Korean military.
That day arrived on Tuesday. For many BTS fans, who call themselves Army, seeing their favorite musicians join the Army was just as painful as they expected. A possible reunion concert, once the members have all completed their military duty, will last at least a year and six months.
For those of you getting into timers, that’s about 547 days, 13,128 hours, or 47 million seconds.
BTS enrollment began last December, when Jin, the group’s oldest member, entered a military training center near the North Korean border shortly after his 30th birthday. Members J-Hope and Suga signed up a few months later, followed by RM, the group’s leader, and V on Monday. (Suga performs an alternative form of military service as a social worker.) The last two members, Jimin and Jungkook, started their military service on Tuesday.
A typical employment term in South Korea is 18 months. The band’s management said last year that BTS would reconvene “around 2025,” but before then, the group’s members could potentially perform informally for their fellow troops, as other K-pop stars have done during their tenures.
The band’s collective military service caps a years-long debate in South Korea over whether BTS members should have been exempt from mandatory military service.
Although able-bodied men over the age of 18 are required to serve in the South Korean military, some exceptions are made, including for Olympic champions and some classical musicians who win international competitions. However, pop stars are not eligible, a fact that sparked debate over whether BTS deserved one for its contributions to South Korea’s economy and cultural exports.
In 2020, South Korea’s parliament revised a law allowing cultural and artistic icons to delay enlistment until the age of 30, an increase of two years from 28. for the review.) But lawmakers stopped short of creating a new class of exemptions for entertainers.
The government is under pressure not to extend such exemptions. For years, many young South Koreans have questioned the fairness of the draft system and wondered why the privilege applies to elite athletes but not to ordinary people. As the country grapples with a declining birth rate, the Defense Department has signaled its intention to eliminate the exemptions entirely.
This week, several BTS members said goodbye to civilian life via social media.
RM, whose real name is Kim Namjun, wrote on the social media platform Weverse on Sunday that “the day has finally arrived.”
“See you in the future,” he added.
On Monday, V, whose real name is Kim Taehyung, uploaded photos of his new buzz cut, a requirement for recruits beginning their five-week basic training program.
“To be honest, I’m doing fine, other than the fact that I won’t be able to make any happy memories with ARMY for a while,” he wrote, referencing the band’s passionate fan base. The abbreviation stands for Cute Representative MC for Youth.
Naturally, BTS fans have been posting plenty of tributes to the band members on social media this week, and the mood has ranged from sad to optimistic.
Last week, the group’s music label, Big Hit Music, urged fans in a statement not to show up at recruitment sites to ‘avoid safety accidents’. Ceremonies for new recruits are reserved for family members. According to the label, no special events were planned for the members.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense made no public statements this week regarding the registration of the BTS members.
Yet there were signs that these were no ordinary employment relationships. On Monday, for example, a tour bus pulled up to the main entrance of a military facility in the South Korean city of Nonsan, with a photo of V next to a microphone on the outside.
“V-day,” it said.