All seven members of BTS can perform abroad while doing their mandatory military service. During a national defense commission held by South Korea’s National Assembly on Monday, the country’s Defense Minister Lee Jeong-seop clarified the ministry’s position on the conditions for recruiting global pop stars, on hiatus since last June. .
“I think BTS might enlist in the military, while they have time to train and perform abroad,” he said, according to Korean media reports. News1.
Prison sentence and social stigma
In South Korea, all men between the ages of 18 and 30 must serve in the military for at least 18 months. Refusing to do military service is considered a crime in the country, which can carry a prison sentence or social stigma.
Some South Koreans sometimes go to extreme measures, trying to gain weight or undergoing unnecessary surgery, to escape. Exemptions are sometimes granted to certain elite athletes, such as Olympic medalists or classical musicians, but pop stars are not entitled to them.
South Korean artists like Steve Yoo or MC Mong then made the decision to refuse to serve in the army, a decision that greatly harmed their careers in the country.
The “BTS Law”
In 2020, the K-pop group benefited from a revision to South Korea’s military service law, dubbed the “BTS Law,” which raises the maximum age for compulsory military service from 28 to 30 in exceptional situations.
But BTS members, including 24-year-old Jungkook and 29-year-old Jin, who will join the army next year, have never shown reluctance to do their military service.
“As a young South Korean, I believe that military service is a natural path. And as I have always said, I will answer the country’s call when I arrive,” Jin told Reuters AFP in 2020.
In addition to the concert attendance issue, South Korea’s parliament is also due to decide soon on a bill that could reduce the length of military service for K-pop stars from two years to three weeks.
Source: BFM TV
