K-pop giant BTS is one step closer to a reunion.
The boy band’s first member to enlist in the South Korean military, Jin, 31, was discharged on Wednesday morning, BTS’ label said. Over the next year, his bandmates are expected to complete their military service, which is required of almost all South Korean men.
BTS surprised their own army, as the seven-member group’s ardent followers are collectively known, in June 2022 when they said they would be going on hiatus to enlist. Jin, the oldest member of the group, born Kim Seok-jin, began his 18-month stint in the military in December. His enlistment came after much public debate over whether BTS should get an exemption from the draft, as Olympic medalists and some classical musicians do.
Still, the group was given some leeway. Most men in South Korea have to enlist before they turn 28. Days before Jin reached that milestone, lawmakers revised the conscription law to allow pop artists who have bolstered the nation’s reputation to defer their enlistment for two years. Researchers say BTS’s global success has contributed billions of dollars to South Korea’s economy.
The group’s music also appears to have become a military asset. Earlier this week, South Korea released K-pop music, reportedly including BTS hits “Dynamite” and “Butter,” into North Korea in retaliation for the hundreds of garbage balloons Pyongyang has been sending to the south. .
In recent days, the band’s label pleaded with fans refrain from flocking to the military site outside Seoul where Jin was to be discharged. Fans weren’t the only ones waiting for this day: Jin posted a “D-100” countdown on social networks in March.
Here’s what you need to know about BTS and the South Korean draft.
Compulsory military service has been shortened.
For decades, recruits typically had to serve three years. By the early 2000s, that duration had been reduced to 24 months. In 2021, the minimum enlistment was reduced to 18 months.
Length of service varies: 18 months in the Army or Navy, 20 months in the Navy, or 21 months in the Air Force. With the exception of Suga, who performs alternative service in social work, all BTS members signed up for the military. Jin served as an assistant instructor for new recruits, according to local media.
The band members have continued to release music.
The last BTS members to join the military (RM, V, Jung Kook, and Jimin) began their service in December.
The band members have remained commercially active, releasing music and videos that were produced before their enlistment. Last month, the group’s leader, RM, released an album, “Right Place, Wrong Person,” which was accompanied by a series of music videos. Jung Kook, whose English album “Golden” peaked at No. 1 on Billboard’s top album sales chart last year, released a new single on Friday.
A meeting is not imminent.
In 2022, BTS’ label said the members would reunite “around 2025.” That remains the plan, according to a spokeswoman for the brand’s parent company, Hybe. Given the timing of the group’s recruitment dates, fans will likely have to wait until at least mid-2025 before seeing all seven members on stage together.
But fans were ecstatic on Wednesday. “I can’t believe this day has come,” one posted on X. “I’m crying.”
Jin is scheduled to make a public appearance in Seoul on Thursday. He has promised to give hugs to exactly 1,000 fans.