South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup opposes removing boy band BTS members from military service. According to the Korean newspaper “KoreaJoongAngDaily” In parliament, the minister said it was “desirable that members of BTS perform their mandatory military service.” He added, however, that he would “respect the revised law if it is approved in parliament.”
Democratic Party MP Kim Young-bae introduced legislation in September that would exempt BTS from compulsory service. Pop stars who have received awards from the government should instead be able to serve in an alternative form of military service. Even then, Lee had said that expanding such an alternative service to BTS would be difficult “for reasons of fairness.”
The previous law also provides for exceptions from military service, but only for athletes, actors or classical musicians. Kim would also like to extend this to pop musicians with international recognition. “Internationally active Korean pop stars are responsible for unimaginable economic and social contributions,” he said, according to the Korea Times.
By law, all male Koreans must complete military service by the time they are in their twenties. The oldest member of the K-pop group, Jin turns 30 on December 4th so should start it soon. The group’s ambassadorship for the city of Busan could be recognized as an alternative activity.