BIGHIT Music, the South Korean juggernaut BTS’ agency, confirmed that all members of the group in the military and the group will resume their activities in 2025 after all seven of them have completed their service. The first member to serve in the military will be Jin. The members will accordingly enlist in the order of their solo endeavours. During a live session on the platform Weverse, Jin joined in from Argentina before his first performance of ‘The Astronaut’ with Coldplay at the latter’s concert.
The singer-songwriter revealed in Korean, as translated by media portal Soompi, “I originally planned to enlist in June (2022) but in order to be courteous to fans, I waited until our October performance [in Busan]. I didn’t want a tearful performance so my [enlistment] announcement was delayed.”
The military conscription announcement came two days after the World Expo 2030 Busan concert. Jin revealed that their album ‘BE’ would have been the last one before their military enlistment in 2020 but the song ‘Dynamite’ became so successful that they had anticipated, BTS decided that it was better to release ‘Butter’ and ‘Permission To Dance’ songs. He continued, “As the two songs did well, I honestly think it was right that I didn’t leave during that time.”
They wanted to hold a concert for the fans but they were scheduled for Grammy Awards 2021. He explained, “I don’t like cold weather so I got the ‘okay’ from the agency to go [enlist] in the summer between May and June. In June, we released a video about halting group [promotions] and focusing on solo [activities]. We were indirectly sharing that we were going to the military.”
However, Jin wanted to enlist during summer or spring but the Busan concert was scheduled for October 2022 due to which he had wait out more for his enlistment. Jin continued, “I thought a lot about whether to be courteous to fans and go to the military when it’s cold or not perform and go during the warm weather that I like. I didn’t want fans to watch our performance while being sad that we said it was the last.”
Under the current law, all able-bodied Korean men are obliged to serve in the military. But with the culture minister’s recommendation, international award-winning athletes and classical musicians can complete their service while remaining active professionally. They are called alternative service for 34 months. Three lawmakers proposed bills earlier in 2021 calling for those exemptions to apply to a wider range of artists. It is to be noted that the “BTS military service amendment” law was passed considering its clear implications for the group, which allows artists who receive the recommendation of the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to postpone their mandatory service until they turn 30 years old by international reckoning. As per the current law, BTS’ oldest member Jin, who turns 30 (international age) this year in 2022, has to enlist for military service by the end of 2022.
Addressing how unfair the criticism was towards BTS for delaying the enlistment, Jin said, “We just didn’t want a tearful [Busan] performance, but we received so much hate as people here and there said ‘it’s true they aren’t going’ or ‘they have to go.’ Although this is regretful, it’s a relief that fans didn’t have to watch a tear-filled concert. I got a bit of hate but I’m satisfied.”
The official statement was released on October 17, 2022. It read, "BIGHIT MUSIC is proud to announce today that the members of BTS are currently moving forward with plans to fulfill their military service. After the phenomenal concert to support Busan's bid for the World Expo 2030, and as each individual embarks on solo endeavors, it's the perfect time and the members of BTS are honored to serve."
"Since the creation of BTS over ten years ago, the band has risen to international success, broken records, and catapulted K-Pop into the global stratosphere. BIGHIT MUSIC has focused on the milestone moment when it would be possible to respect the needs of the country and for these healthy young men to serve with their countrymen, and that's now. Group member Jin will initiate the process as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October. He will then follow the enlistment procedure of the Korean government. Other members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans. Both, the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment," it continued.
"With the release of their first anthology album earlier this year, it opened the path to allow the members to take some time to explore individual projects. As part of the HYBE family, we support and encourage our artists and are beyond proud that they will each now have time to explore their unique interests and do their duty by being of service to the country they call home," it concluded.
Jin released his new single ‘The Astronaut’ on Friday, October 28 which is co-written by him and Coldplay. He did his first performance for the same at the Music Of The Spheres World tour joining Coldplay on stage in Argentina. The enlistment day of Jin is yet to be announced but as per Chris Martin’s address at the concert on Friday night, it seems like Jin will be heading to the military by December.
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