BTS Member J Hope To Join Compulsory South Korean Military Service

BTS¡¯ J Hope is soon expected to join the compulsory South Korean military service as his age nears the age of enlistment.

December 4 is when BTS¡¯ Kim Seok Jin celebrates his birthday. In 2020, as an early birthday gift, Jin was allowed to defer the compulsory military service rule of South Korea. South Korea has compulsory military service, which has led to all abled-bodied K-Pop stars enlisting in the military for at least 20 months once they turn 28. These K-Pop stars have reunited after everyone completed their service tenure.

However, things changed when, right before Jin¡¯s birthday, the South Korean Parliament announced a defer law that allowed K-Pop artists to delay their enlistment till age 30.

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J Hope¡¯s Military Enlistment

Jeon Hoseok, the third eldest, popularly known as J Hope- the band¡¯s rapper and lead choreographer is ready to serve military service. The enlistment begins after Jin¡¯s. J-Hope confirmed his enlistment date by 2024, as he will turn 30 on February 18, next year. He has shared on receiving advice from Jin and promises to do better and return to Weverse Live.

The BigHit taking to Weverse shared: Hello, this is Big Hit Music. We would like to inform our fans that J-Hope has initiated the military enlistment process by applying for the termination of his enlistment postponement. We will inform you of further updates in due course. We ask you for your continued love and support for J-Hope until he completes his military service and safely returns. Our company will spare no effort in providing support for our artist. Thank you

The ARMY (group of BTS fans) showed support and care on the announcement. Trending on twitter, a fan wrote that they could not imagine the band without the ¡°resident sunshine.¡±

Compulsory Military Service Law

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Implemented in July 1948, Article 39 states, ¡°All citizens shall have the duty of national defense under the conditions as prescribed by Act.¡± South Korea¡¯s Military Service Act of 1949 also makes it compulsory for citizens to serve in the military as soon as they turn 19. Enlistment, however, begins at 18, ¡°person under obligation to serve in the military enters the military unit by conscription, call-up or application.¡±

Military service is not compulsory for women, though they can enrol if they wish to. The duration of the service varies on the basis of the service department. A term of one year and six months is to be served by the Army and Marine Corps, one year and eight months for the Navy, and one year and nine months for Air Force and non-active-duty personnel.

Exemption in Past

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South Korean President Park Chung-hee, in 1973, made an exemption for athletes. Continuing the tradition, in 1980, President Chun Doo-hwan made an exemption for athletes who won medals in Asian Games 1986 or the Summer Olympics 1988. They were to serve only a 4-week military training service.

In 2006, the Korean government made an exemption for the National Baseball team on the condition of bagging a win in the World Baseball Classic. In the 2020 FIFA World Cup, the South Korean government made the exemption for its National Football team on the same condition of winning.

Exemption on sports has been made earlier, however, never for the entertainment industry. ¡°Unlike classical arts or sports, it is difficult to fix the criteria of the selection in the popular culture and arts fields, which makes it difficult to institutionalise a waiver system,¡± shared Park Yang-woo, who previously served as the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of South Korea Due to the promotion it received through the use of soft-power via pop- culture and the International recognition that BTS has brought for South Korea has led to the exemption rule for the entertainment industry.