By KIM TONG-HYUNG | Related Press
SEOUL, South Korea — The members of Okay-pop band BTS will serve their necessary navy duties underneath South Korean legislation, their administration firm stated Monday, successfully ending a debate on whether or not they need to be granted exemptions due to their creative accomplishments.
Massive Hit Music stated the band’s oldest member, Jin, will revoke his request to delay his conscription on the finish of the month and undertake the required steps. The six different BTS members additionally plan to serve within the navy and are “trying ahead to reconvening as a gaggle once more round 2025 following their service dedication,” the corporate stated in a press release.
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No additional data 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 will probably be their final live performance as a gaggle till they end serving within the navy, in accordance with their label.
Hybe Corp., the mother or father firm of Massive Hit, stated in an e-mail to The Related Press that every member of the band in the interim will concentrate on particular person actions scheduled round their navy service plans.
In a letter to shareholders, Hybe CEO Park Jiwon downplayed monetary issues associated to the BTS hiatus, saying it has a broad sufficient lineup of artists, together with different common Okay-pop teams akin to Le Sserafim and NewJeans and Western performers Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.
“We've all the time been conscious of the eventuality of necessary navy service, and we've got lengthy been making preparations to be prepared for this second,” Park wrote. “Within the brief time period, particular person actions for a number of of the members are deliberate into the primary half of 2023, and we've got secured content material upfront, which can allow BTS to proceed their engagement with followers for the foreseeable future.”
The announcement got here after Lee Ki Sik, commissioner of the Army Manpower Administration, advised lawmakers this month that it will be “fascinating” for BTS members to fulfil their navy 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 items and duties, in accordance with officers on the Army Manpower Administration, who confused that the singers would go underneath 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 stated in August that if BTS members be a part of the navy, they'd probably be allowed to proceed training and to affix with the group for excursions abroad.
Whether or not the BTS members should serve within the military had been a hotly debated challenge 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. Different members are presently between 25 and 29 years outdated, with Suga turning 30 in March.
Underneath 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 were tied to nationwide status.
The band — its different members being J-Hope, RM, Jungkook, V and Jimin — launched in 2013 and has a legion of worldwide supporters who name themselves the “Military.”
After constructing an enormous following in Asia, BTS expanded its recognition within the West with its 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the band’s first all-English music that made it the primary Okay-pop act to high Billboard’s Sizzling 100. The band has carried out in sold-out arenas around the globe and was even invited to talk at United Nations conferences.
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 challenge. 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.