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On May 3, SM Entertainment released a statement announcing the sudden news of EXO Kai's military enlistment. They stated that the artist will be beginning his service period on May 11, and since the process felt quite hurried and rushed, fans were confused about the same.
SM Entertainment then explained that this was due to the recent changes in the military service laws. As per allkpop, they said:
"Kai was preparing for EXO's comeback for this year, but because of a recent change in regulations by the Military Manpower Administration, he's set to enter the army recruit training center on May 11. He'll receive basic military training, and he will then serve as a public service worker."
However, Star News reported that as per a staff member of the Military Manpower Administration, there haven't been any changes in the military service laws as mentioned by SM Entertainment in their statement. Additionally, the staff member also mentioned that the reason for Kai's enlistment was due to the exhaustion of all five postponement requests.
Upon hearing the other side of the story, fans have been angered about the agency's poor handling of EXO Kai's military service.
Fans criticize SM Entertainment for poor and rushed handling of EXO Kai's military enlistment
When SM Entertainment initially revealed that EXO Kai will be enlisting in less than a week, the news took social media by storm. Given that Kai was preparing for EXO's comeback, fans expected him to not enlist for another year or so.
Additionally, since the announcement said that it was due to the sudden changes in the military law service, fans felt that it was only right to respect the same. However, with staff members stepping forward to reveal that there haven't been any changes in South Korea's military law services, it angered fans. They believed that the situation was a result of the agency's poor management and handling of the idol's enlistment services.
Under the laws of South Korea mandatory military service laws, an individual can postpone their service up to five times, out of which only two requests can be labeled for miscellaneous reasons. Fans believed that all of EXO Kai's postponement requests were exhausted by SM Entertainment without his knowledge and this broke their hearts.
It has also been speculated that Kai was not only unaware of his postponements being exhausted but also learned about his sudden enlistment after the agency's official announcement. Soon after the news broke, the idol went live on Instagram to talk about his departure to his fans.
EXO-Ls could see that Kai was visibly sad and upset to leave both EXO and his fans suddenly amidst the much-awaited comeback. The idol even shed a few tears while talking about how heartbreaking it is for him to leave everything behind all of a sudden with little time to prepare for the same.
However, fans are excited about the free fan meeting that EXO Kai is organizing on May 9, at 7 pm KST, at YES 24 Live Hall in Seoul. Given that it's only two days before his enlistment, this will be the last time fans see him in real life until his return next year.
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