From K-pop stars to combat garb: should BTS boybanders be made to serve in the military?
The band has brought honour to South Korea through its US chart-topping achievements – so should they be allowed to skip serving in the army?
Do Korean pop stars make good soldiers, or are their talents better put to use promoting Korean culture around the world?
This is a question dogging South Korea’s military leaders as they mull revising rules about who qualifies for an exemption from mandatory service. Currently nearly all men must serve for a minimum of 21 months, a measure seen as a deterrent against North Korean aggression. But medals in certain sporting events and top spots in international and domestic arts competitions serve as one of the very few ways out.
After South Korea’s men’s football team won gold at the Asian Games, automatically granting members of the squad the right to skip the army, it reignited the debate over conscription. The victory was made all the more dramatic since it was the last chance for Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min to avoid conscription , which could have ended his career.
Music fans have called for exemptions for successful K-pop stars, pointing to the group BTS and their second US chart-topping album this week. Prime minister Lee Nak-yon seemed to suggest the rules should be expanded to cover artists like BTS, and urged the military to “come up with a more reasonable measure by reflecting the public’s growing demands”.
One opposition lawmaker was more direct: “If you win a classic music competition such as in violin and piano, military exemption is granted. However, winning a pop music competition, say the Billboard albums chart, gets you nothing.”
Public opinion on the issue remains sharply divided and a recent poll showed 48 per cent were in favour of increasing incentives while 44 per cent were opposed.