Seoul says the BTS will do military service

After years of debate and speculation about a possible exemption, the hugely popular K-pop band has announced that it will follow enlistment procedures like all South Koreans. The compulsory conscription is the most tangible legacy of the continuing conflict and tensions with Pyongyang, which has been ill-supported by young people in the hyper-competitive South Korean labour market.

Seoul (AsiaNews) - The news that rocked the K-pop music world came via a note to shareholders of Hybe, the entertainment giant that owns the BTS record label. Yesterday, CEO Park Ji-won let it be known that Jin, the oldest of the South Korean boy band's seven singers, is ready for military service. "Jin will rescind his request to postpone conscription by the end of the month and follow the procedures for enlistment," the note reported, later adding that "the other members will fulfil their military duties in turn according to their individual plans."

After years of debate and speculation about a possible exemption, the decision was finally made public: the BTS are preparing to perform compulsory military service. Current laws in South Korea require all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 to be called up for just under two years to serve in Seoul's armed forces.

There are exceptions that allow Olympic athletes and other entertainment personalities to avoid conscription, but none of these apply to the BTS. Precisely because of their planetary fame and the attention the boy band and South Korea has attracted worldwide, many South Korean citizens expected that a compromise would eventually be found to allow the group to avoid military service. According to some polls, about 60% of South Koreans would have been in favour of exempting BTS from compulsory military service.

However, in the climate of exasperated tension in the country, politicians failed to find a solution, and only a few days ago, the defence minister declared that he thought it was 'desirable for BTS members to perform compulsory military service'. In fact, the news did not come as a surprise, as rumours about the possible conscription had been reinforced after the group announced last June that it was taking a break.

Compulsory conscription is an experience that entire generations of South Koreans have had to undergo. For many, it is the most tangible legacy of the division of the Korean peninsula during the Cold War and a war fought some 70 years ago but never formally ended. To this day, in fact, no peace treaty has ever been signed between North and South and despite the 1953 armistice, the tension along the demilitarised zone has never really dissipated.

For this reason, even today young South Koreans are asked to sacrifice about two years of their lives to devote to the armed forces. For many, conscription is a rite of passage, which, according to some widespread clichés, completes the training of young South Korean men.

Yet, military service is often loathed by new recruits, who are forced to put their working careers on hold for a full two years: in the country's hyper-competitive labour market, this is a fairly anxiety-provoking prospect for many. It is therefore not surprising that it was mainly young South Korean males who perceived a possible exemption from conscription for BTS as unfair.