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The ongoing saga of the BTS Military Service topic will positively come to and end this year. The South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism (MCST) recently shared that they will make a decision regarding BTS' military service issue by December.
On October 5, South Korean tourism minister Park Bo-kyun of MCST, while attending the National Assembly’s parliamentary inspection of the administration, shared that a decision will be announced this year, as soon as possible.
During the audit, Lee Yong-ho, a member of the People Power Party, requested Minister Park to actively look into the group's military service issue. In response, the minister stated:
“Member Jin’s enlistment is set to be sorted out by December, but the MCST will finalize our stance as soon as possible before then.”
Jin is the eldest member of the K-pop group and is turning 30 in December 2022. Therefore, if changes are not made to the Military Service Act, he must enlist in the military as per the 2020 amendment to the Military Service Act.
The South Korean Ministry is carefully reviewing the BTS military service issue, MCST minister claims
In his statement, Minister Park added that several aspects will be kept in mind when making the big decision. He said:
“We are comprehensively reviewing the issue by looking at various aspects including the points that national defense is a sacred duty, military service is a symbol of fairness, BTS has made Korea known as the vanguard of K-culture and created a huge economic ripple effect.”
It continued:
“There are equity issues between popular artists including BTS and those who practice fine arts, this will affect the group when one of the BTS members joins the army, there are [results of] public opinion analysis and opinions of men in their 20s, and so on.”
The amendment to the Military Service Act is currently pending in the National Assembly. If passed, the Butter hitmakers will not be required to serve in the military. However, if that does not happen, all seven members will have to serve in the military, starting with Jin, who will have to enlist early next year.
In other news, the group is gearing up for their mega Yet To Come concert in Busan, which will take place on October 15. The concert will mark South Korea's bid to host the World Expo in 2030. The concert is free for attendees and will also be streamed online (for free) for global fans.
Besides that, HYBE has joined hands with different ventures and businesses to turn Busan city into a “concert play park” throughout the month.
