BTS to do military service: South Korean government refuses to give K-pop supergroup exemptions
- Fans and politicians of group that topped the Billboard charts had called for authorities to exempt band members from military duty
- But government confirms only ‘qualified’ athletes and artists, not famous entertainers, will get immunity
By Park Si-soo
Members of K-pop supergroup BTS will have to fulfil their military duty for about two years after the government decided not to grant exemptions to high-profile entertainers due to the shrinking pool of able-bodied people eligible for service.
Members of the boy band’s fan club, known as Army, and several politicians had called for authorities to grant exemptions to BTS, who have become a worldwide sensation, topping the Billboard charts.
The government confirmed the decision on Thursday at a policymaking meeting presided over by South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon. At the meeting, the Defence Ministry decided to keep the policy of offering military duty exemptions to “qualified” athletes and artists, while not expanding the exemption to include famous entertainers.
“We came to review this system to reduce the number of exemptions in the first place, so we did not at all consider expanding exemptions,” Lee Nam-woo, chief of the Ministry’s personnel welfare office, said after the meeting. “We also believe that military duty will not hurt the talents of popular performers so critically that they cannot perform any more.”
