Okay-Pop Band BTS To Serve in South Korea Army, Company Says

SEOUL, South Korea — The members of Okay-pop band BTS will serve their necessary navy duties beneath South Korean legislation, their administration firm mentioned Monday, successfully ending a debate on exempting them due to their inventive accomplishments.

Massive Hit Music mentioned the band’s oldest member, Jin, will revoke his request to delay his conscription on the finish of the month and undertake the required conscription steps. The six different members additionally plan to serve within the navy, in line with the corporate’s discover to monetary regulators, which it described as management-related info that would probably have an effect on funding selections.

Massive Hit issued one other statement on Twitter, saying the corporate and BTS members are “trying ahead to reconvening as a gaggle once more round 2025 following their service dedication.”

No additional info on the timing of their service was given. The band members carried out collectively in Busan over the weekend in assist of town’s EXPO bid, which might be their final live performance as a gaggle till they end serving within the navy, in line with their label.

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“Every BTS member in the meanwhile will give attention to their particular person actions based mostly on their plans to serve within the navy,” Hybe Corp., the father or mother firm of Massive Hit, mentioned in an e-mail to The Related Press.

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The announcement got here after Lee Ki Sik, commissioner of the Army Manpower Administration, informed lawmakers this month that it might be “desirable” for BTS members to fulfil their military duties to make sure equity within the nation’s navy service.

After enlisting, Jin and different BTS members will obtain 5 weeks of fight coaching earlier than being assigned to particular models and duties, in line with officers on the Army Manpower Administration, who burdened that the singers would go beneath the identical course of as different South Korean males.

Whereas South Korea’s navy for years had assigned enlisted entertainers to duties associated to producing radio and TV materials selling the navy, the “leisure soldier” system was retired in 2013 following complaints over equity.

Protection Minister Lee Jong-sup had mentioned in August that if BTS members be a part of the navy, they’d probably be allowed to proceed working towards and to hitch again with the group for excursions abroad.

Whether or not the BTS members should serve within the military had been a hotly debated subject in South Korea as Jin confronted attainable enlistment early subsequent 12 months. Jin turns 30 in December, the age at which males can now not delay enlistment.

Beneath South Korean legislation, most able-bodied males are required to carry out 18-21 months of navy service, however particular exemptions had been granted for athletes and artists who excel in sure worldwide competitions which have been tied with nationwide status.

Since South Korea’s draft interrupts younger males of their skilled careers or research, the dodging of navy duties or creation of exemptions is a extremely delicate subject. Opinion surveys in latest weeks confirmed that the general public was break up over whether or not the BTS members ought to serve within the navy.

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