SOUTH KOREA Seoul, the BTS will do their military service

After years of debate and speculation about a possible exemption, the popular K-pop band has announced that it will follow the enrollment procedures like all South Koreans. Compulsory military service is the most tangible legacy of the continuing conflict and tensions with Pyongyang, poorly tolerated by young people who must enter the hyper-competitive South Korean labor market.

Seoul () – The news that shocked the world of K-pop music came through a note to the shareholders of Hybe, the entertainment giant that owns the BTS record label. Yesterday the company’s CEO, Park Ji-won, announced that Jin, the oldest of the seven singers of the South Korean youth band, will be the first to join. “Jin will revoke his request to postpone compulsory military service by the end of the month and follow the procedures for enlistment,” the note said, adding that “the other members will fulfill their military duties in turn, each according to their personal plans.”

After years of debate and speculation about a possible exemption, the decision was finally made public. BTS prepares to perform mandatory military service. Current laws in South Korea require all able-bodied males between the ages of 18 and 28 to join the ranks of the military for just under two years to serve in Seoul’s armed forces.

There are exceptions that allow Olympians and other entertainment personalities to avoid recruitment, but none of these apply to BTS. Precisely because of his international fame and the attention that K-pop and South Korea have aroused around the world, many South Koreans expected that a way would be found for the group to avoid military service. According to some polls, about 60% of South Koreans would be in favor of exempting BTS from compulsory military service.

However, in the climate of exasperated tension that the country is currently experiencing, could not find a solution and a few days ago the Minister of Defense declared that he considered “desirable that the members of BTS comply with the compulsory military service”. Actually the news was not unexpected because rumors were already flying about the possible enlistment, reinforced when the group announced last June that it wanted to take a break.

Compulsory military service is an experience that entire generations of South Koreans have had to go through. For many, it is the most tangible legacy of the division of the Korean Peninsula during the Cold War and of a war that began 70 years ago but never formally ended. In fact, to this day no peace treaty has been signed between the North and the South and, despite the armistice that has been in force since 1953, the tension in the demilitarized zone has never really dissipated.

That is why young South Koreans are still asked to sacrifice about two years of their lives to dedicate them to the armed forces. For many, recruitment is a rite of passage that some say widely used clichéscompletes the formation of men.

However, recruits generally detest military service, which forces them to interrupt their career for two years. In the country’s hyper-competitive job market, this prospect causes quite a bit of anxiety for many of them. So it is not surprising that it was especially young South Korean males who viewed a potential exemption for BTS as unfair.