SEOUL – J-Hope, a member of K-pop sensation BTS, entered a South Korean boot camp on Tuesday to begin his 18-month mandatory military service and became the second member of the group to join the country’s army.
In 2022, there was heated public debate over whether BTS members should be offered special exemptions from mandatory military service, pending the group’s administrative authority announced in October that all seven members would complete their duties.
In December, Jin, 30 and the oldest member of BTS, joined the band first member to join the army after withdrawing his request for a stay of his draft.
South Korean television footage Tuesday afternoon showed what they called a black minivan, believed to be carrying J-Hope, entering the training camp in Wonju, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Seoul. Hybe Corp., the parent company of BTS management agency Big Hit Music, later confirmed the 29-year-old singer had joined the camp.
Dozens of fans showed up near the base after arriving on hired buses adorned with large photos of J-Hope and words hoping for his safe service. Authorities mobilized soldiers and police to maintain order, and there were no immediate reports of security-related accidents. Big Hit Music had asked fans calling themselves “Army” not to come to the site for safety reasons.
“I love you Army. See you again,” J-Hope, whose real name is Jung Ho-seok, said Monday in a message posted to online fan platform Weverse, along with photos of himself sporting a military buzz cut.
Five other younger BTS members – RM, Suga, Jimin, V and Jungkook – are slated to join the South Korean military one after the other in the coming years. That means the world’s biggest boy band is likely to get back together as a group a few years down the road.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required by law to serve 18 to 21 months of military service under a conscription system designed to deter aggression by rival North Korea.
The law grants special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, ballet and other dancers when they have received top prizes in certain competitions and are deemed to have increased national standing. K-pop stars and other entertainers are not subject to such privileges.
This has led to intense debate domestically over whether it’s time to change the law to extend exemptions to entertainers like BTS members. Jin, who will be 30 in December.
The legislature debated the issue in the National Assembly, while a A series of public polls revealed sharply divided opinion about possible exemptions from services for BTS members. Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup said at the time it was “desirable” for BTS members to implement their duties to promote fairness in the country’s military service.
Exceptions to or evasion of military duties are a highly sensitive issue in South Korea because the draft forces young men to interrupt their studies or careers.
Formed in 2013, BTS expanded its popularity in the west with its 2020 megahit “Dynamite,” the band’s first all-English song, which made BTS the first K-pop act to top Billboard’s Hot 100.
Hybe Corp. said in October that each member of the band will initially focus on individual activities planned around their military service plans.
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Associated Press writer Kim Tong-hyung contributed to this report.
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