As BTS ‘takes a break’, what does it mean for the K-pop supergroup’s future?

Looming military enlistment for the group’s older members is creating a headache – a law passed in 2020 allowed them to defer until they turned 30

Last week’s shock announcement also threw into doubt how engaged the group and their devoted fans, or ‘ARMY’, will continue to be in social justice efforts

Reading Time:5 minutes

BTS seen arriving at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards held in April at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:02pm, 21 Jun 2022

The surprise announcement by BTS last week that they were taking a break to focus on members’ solo projects stunned their global fan base, shaking their label’s stock price and leaving many questions about the K-pop supergroup’s future.

HYBE, the company behind the band, denied the group was taking a hiatus – a word used in a translation of the group’s emotional dinnertime video announcement. In the days since, band members have remained active on social media, continuing the stream of posts, photos and assurances that the band wasn’t breaking up.

Despite the immediate effects – HYBE’s stock initially dropped more than 25 per cent and has yet to fully recover – several factors may still affect BTS’ future. One is looming military enlistment for older BTS members, as well as how engaged the group and their devoted fans, known as “ARMY”, will continue to be in social issues.

In 2020, at the height of BTS’ success, the South Korean government revised the country’s military law that requires able-bodied South Korean men to perform around two years of military service. The revised law allows top K-pop stars – including Jin, the oldest member of BTS – to defer their military service until they turn 30 if they have received government medals for heightening the country’s cultural reputation and apply for the postponement. All BTS members meet the criteria as recipients of government medals in 2018.

“Obviously, there’s a looming military enlistment so they might have thought it’d be good to do something individually before it’s too late and that’s why I think military enlistment was the biggest factor,” said Lee Dong Yeun, a professor at Korea National University of Arts.

There have been calls – including from South Korea’s former culture minister – for an exemption for BTS because of their contribution to heightening the country’s international reputation. But critics say that such an exemption would be bending the conscription rules to favour the privileged.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x