How military service works for K-pop idols

Suga, a member of the K-pop giants BTS, has been discharged from South Korea's mandatory national service, as the last of the seven boyband members to finish their military duties.

This is nothing less than a "momentous occasion" for the group's zealous fans, said The Independent, marking the end of a two-and-a-half-year break in the band's career, and now that all BTS members have completed their service, they plan to reunite by the end of the year.

Source of grievance 

All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18 to 28 are legally obliged to carry out 18 to 21 months of military service. This is a "source of grievance" for many young men, said the BBC, and they "begrudge it for taking them away" from their education, jobs and friends.

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There were questions about whether the members of BTS, the world's most successful boyband, would join the military or if they might receive an exemption. At one time, there was a special unit for famous people, who would be given privileges and allowed to continue to work as entertainers, but it was scrapped in 2013 after some stars were found "leaving their barracks more often than allowed".

In 2022, there were rumours that the government might allow the members of BTS to "skip the service" altogether, when it was argued that they'd "already served their country by earning it billions of dollars", and would be of more help to the country by continuing to rake in the cash.

Gas chambers

At the Yeoncheon bootcamp, where band member Jin began training in 2022, life isn't easy. Cadets told the BBC that the challenges included being "sealed in a gas chamber", to experience the effects of CS gas, and detonating a live grenade.

Recruits "sleep on mats on the floor" with 30 people to a room, said the broadcaster, and are taught how to handle weapons and fire live ammunition before "being put through demanding wartime scenarios".

When he served at an outpost in the Demilitarized Zone that separates South and North Korea, one recruit saw North Korean soldiers being "beaten", and he spent days shovelling snow in temperatures of -20C. "Our eyelashes would freeze", he said.

Titles like Special Warrior, Elite Trainee or Platoon Leader are given to soldiers who "excel in areas like shooting, endurance, discipline or leadership", said SportsKeeda, and V, Jin, j-hope and Jimin earned some of these "high-performance" honours, which suggested they reached an "outstanding" level.

During their service, BTS members tried to remain engaged with fans, with high-profile album releases, innovative documentaries, fan letters and pre-recorded performances. They hoped to turn military service into an opportunity for personal and artistic growth.

But K-pop has "changed" while they've been away, said the BBC, so whether they can continue their success in the music industry is another question. Military service has proved "fatal" for some celebrity careers, but "if anyone can break the curse", it's BTS, said Lim Young-dae, music critic and author of "BTS: The Review".