Singers RM and V of the Okay-pop band BTS began their mandatory military duties underneath South Korean legislation, their administration company introduced Monday. This got here a day earlier than two of their bandmates, Jimin and Jung Kook, had been additionally anticipated to report for obligation.
Three different BTS members — Jin, J-Hope and Suga — are already months into their conscription. The seven singers of the favored Okay-pop band plan to reunite as a gaggle someday in 2025 after they end their service.
Jin and J-Hope are serving within the military whereas Suga is fulfilling his duty as a social service agent, another type of navy service.
In keeping with HYBE, the band’s administration firm, RM and V arrived at a military boot camp within the central metropolis of Nonsan to start out their 18-month obligatory service.
The corporate mentioned Jimin and Jung Kook would report back to the military collectively. It didn’t instantly affirm South Korean media studies that they might be on the boot camp on Tuesday.
“I’ve been so happy to have been a part of BTS for the past 10 years … Eighteen months can feel both long and short at the same time and I’m sure this period will be a strange and new time of inspiration and learning for all of us,” RM mentioned in a press release posted on his Instagram account. “See you in the future. I love you a lot.”
RM and V will obtain 5 weeks of fight coaching earlier than being assigned to particular items and duties. The Army Manpower Administration has confused that the singers would undergo the identical course of as different South Korean males conscripted for service.
Army service necessary for many
Below South Korean legislation, most able-bodied males should carry out 18-21 months of navy service. Particular exemptions are granted for athletes and classical artists who excel in sure sorts of worldwide competitions tied to nationwide status. However such privileges haven’t been prolonged to Okay-pop singers.
Final 12 months, a fierce public debate flared over whether or not BTS members ought to proceed with their navy companies, with some politicians arguing that their inventive achievements had been worthy of exemption.
The discourse resulted in October 2022 when their administration firm introduced that every one seven of the band’s singers plan to completely serve their navy duties. In December, Jin became the first BTS member to enter the military after he withdrew his request to delay conscription.
Whereas South Korea’s navy previously has been accused of offering preferential therapy for well-known conscripted males, some individuals who served in recent times mentioned they felt entertainers had been going by way of the identical grind as them.
Lee Yu Sung, a 31-year-old who obtained boot camp coaching with Okay-pop star Lee Seok-Hoon in 2013 mentioned the singer of the boyband SG WANNABE went by way of the identical routine as the remainder of the conscripts, getting up at 6:30 a.m., receiving lectures on threats posed by North Korea and getting skilled for fight. The conscripts marched 10 to 40 kilometers (about 6.2 to 24.8 miles) in full gear 3 times throughout their weekslong coaching.
Lee Seok-Hoon, at 29, was a number of years older than a lot of the different conscripts, after delaying his service for years to accommodate his profession. The legislation doesn’t permit most South Korean males to delay their navy companies after they flip 30.
“We had about five hours of free time before we went to bed at 10 at night. And, as someone who had more life experience, Lee Seok-Hoon would often tell us what his life was like as a singer and also interesting stories about other celebrities, as he was trying to stay friendly with other soldiers who were younger,” mentioned former conscript Lee Yu Sung.
A navy teacher on the camp, who described himself as an SG WANNABE fan, generally had Lee Seok-Hoon sing battle songs in entrance of different conscripts, Lee Yu Sung added. He mentioned the singer, a religious Christian, additionally sang hymns throughout Sunday service.
An ‘army’ of followers
Okay-pop and its stars have grown into a world phenomenon, significantly after BTS was shaped in 2013. The band has a legion of world supporters who occur to name themselves the “Army.”
After garnering an enormous following in Asia, BTS expanded its reputation within the West with its 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the band’s first all-English music that topped Billboard’s Sizzling 100. The band has carried out in sold-out arenas globally and was even invited to talk at United Nations conferences.
Younger males who get drafted into the military are pressured to droop their research or skilled careers, making necessary navy service a extremely delicate difficulty in South Korea that has sparked heated debates and even gender tensions in a hyper-competitive job market.
