SEOUL — The day that many followers of BTS had hoped would by no means come has arrived. Jin, the eldest member of the Ok-pop supergroup, began his navy service on Tuesday, fulfilling a pledge that ended a debate about South Korea’s necessary conscription.
The enlistment of the singer, whose beginning identify is Kim Seok-jin, marks a pause for one of many greatest boy bands on this planet, with different members anticipated to observe him into the armed forces. The band’s administration has stated that the group would reconvene “around 2025.”
Mr. Kim, who turned 30 on Dec. 4, posted a selfie on social media Sunday night time that includes his freshly shorn hair. “Cuter than anticipated,” he captioned it.
On Tuesday, he entered a navy coaching heart in Yeoncheon County in Gyeonggi Province, close to the border with North Korea. Followers and reporters gathered outdoors, hoping to catch a glimpse of the idol in one of many dozens of vehicles coming into the compound, regardless of requests from BTS’s label that they keep away. Guards patrolled the entrance gate whereas wardens directed visitors, native media movies confirmed.
Mr. Kim, the Protection Ministry stated, is predicted to complete his service in June 2024.
South Korea’s necessary navy service, which applies to all able-bodied males over the age of 18, is seen as essential to the nation’s protection towards North Korea. However debate has raged for years in each the general public and legislative spheres about whether or not BTS ought to be exempt from conscription given its contributions to South Korea’s economy and mushy energy overseas.
In a nod to the band’s world success, South Korea’s parliament revised the regulation in 2020 to permit cultural and inventive icons to defer their enlistment to the age of 30, giving Mr. Kim two extra years to carry out. In any other case, Korean males are required to enlist within the navy by age 28, barring a couple of exceptions, together with for Olympic champions.
Payments to exempt the band from service altogether have proved contentious, particularly among the many cohort of younger males for whom conscription is obligatory.
The band put the debate to rest in October this yr when its label, Large Hit Music, introduced that the members would certainly fulfill their duties within the navy.
A couple of months earlier, in June, BTS had stated that it will take a hiatus from group actions, citing the stress of their stardom and members’ wishes to discover solo music careers.
Final week, BTS’s label said that there could be no particular send-off occasions for Jin, and requested the media and “followers to please chorus from visiting the location” of enlistment. Contemporary recruits usually kick off their enlistment with a ceremony attended by family and friends.
On Tuesday morning, Jin posted one final goodbye to his followers on the social media platform Weverse. “It’s curtain name time.”
