SEOUL—The eldest member of the South Korean boy band BTS will be conscripted for the country’s mandatory military service later this year, ending a debate over whether the singers’ cultural achievements should merit an exemption.
The 29-year-old
Kim Seok-jin
—who goes by the stage name “Jin” to fans—had until his December birthday to begin his mandatory military service of 18 months. His start date had already been pushed back two years, following an amendment to South Korea’s conscription law in 2020 designed with the BTS group in mind.
That reprieve had allowed Mr. Kim to delay his military service until he turned 30. On Monday, Mr. Kim, through his management agency
HYBE,
said he would initiate steps to join the military as soon as his schedule for his solo release is concluded at the end of October. The other six members of the group plan to carry out their military service based on their own individual plans,
said in a statement.
“Both the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment,” HYBE said.
BTS—short for their Korean name
Bangtan Sonyeondan,
which they alter in English to “Beyond the Scene”—is one of the world’s most popular bands. Their devoted fans around the world officially go by the name ARMY.
Members of BTS arrived for the annual Grammy Awards in Las Vegas earlier this year.
Photo:
angela weiss/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Mr. Kim’s conscription announcement comes after the group held a free concert in South Korea’s southern port city of Busan on Saturday to help promote the country’s bid to host the World Expo in 2030.
In June, the group had also announced that they would be taking time to focus on releasing music as solo acts, citing struggles to create new music in order to live up to the expectations of their fans. The news sent HYBE shares tumbling by nearly 25% at the time—marking the company’s worst single-day decline since it went public in October 2020.
The weekend concert in Busan was widely expected to be the last involving all of the members of the K-pop boy band, as discussions around the South Korean government potentially exempting BTS from the mandatory military service had failed to reach a conclusion.
In social-media posts, fans of the K-pop band expressed a mix of sadness, resignation and acceptance over the news the group would begin military service. Many fans said BTS prepared them for a day like this when they announced they would be taking a break to focus on solo work. Other members of the ARMY said they were already looking forward to the new material the band would release when their time in the military ends.
South Korean legislators had been discussing the possibility of amending the local conscription law since last year without taking action.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve in the military for at least 18 months, though the length of the service may vary by the type of post. The draft starts from the age of 18, though men can postpone until 28, with those in the entertainment profession permitted to postpone conscription until the age of 30.
BTS, which formed in 2013, was the first K-pop act to top the U.S. album chart and has produced a series of No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. They have sold out U.S. stadiums for their massive, global fan base and appeared on “Saturday Night Live.”
Earlier this year, BTS visited the White House where they discussed discrimination against the Asian community with President Biden. Fans lined up outside of the White House to try to get a glimpse of the band during the meeting.
BTS is the crown jewel of HYBE, which last year said it would acquire U.S.-based Ithaca Holdings to bring artists such as
Justin Bieber
and
Ariana Grande
under its roof.
—Joseph De Avila contributed to this article.
Write to Jiyoung Sohn at jiyoung.sohn@wsj.com
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