Big Hit Music explained in a statement that, after the band announced last summer the start of a stage in which its members were going to be more focused on individual projects, “it is the perfect time” to comply with the requirement and that the seven they “consider it an honor” to do so.
The group’s oldest member, Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin), will be the first to enlist “as soon as he finalizes his solo release schedule at the end of October.”
Jin, 29, already managed to defer his enlistment two years ago and the South Korean Ministry of Culture had said it would announce in December whether to grant the group members an exemption, a move that promised to be controversial.
“The rest of the group members plan to carry out military service in relation to their own individual schedules,” Big Hit Music’s statement added.
All able-bodied males in South Korea must complete compulsory military service that lasts between 18 and 21 months depending on the corps in which they serve.
The announcement comes just two days after BTS offered a concert in the South Korean city of Busan that had generated more expectation than usual due to the possibility that it was their last performance in a long time.
“Both the company and the members of BTS are looking forward to reuniting as a band around 2025 after having fulfilled their obligations,” the text details.
Made up of RM, Jimin, Jin, V, Suga, J-Hope and Jungkook (the youngest at 25 years old) and with nine years of experience behind them, the band has broken various records and won national and international awards that no band has of South Korean pop had accumulated before and is the first Asian group that has managed to become a musical phenomenon on a global level.