BTS's Fate For Mandatory Military Duty May Be Decided This Week (Photo : REUTERS )
Fresh off of their huge win at the 2021 American Music Awards, the decision of whether or not the members of K-pop super idols BTS should be off to the military could be decided this week.
The subcommittee meeting of South Korea's National Assembly defense committee will take place this Thursday. During the event, there will be discussions about changes to the Military Service Act. It is to be seen whether the lawmakers decide to give service exemptions to the Bangtan Boys, who have helped elevate the global standing of the nation.
According to the current law, all able-bodied men in the country have to do obligatory military service for 18-22 months. However, if the culture minister recommends, international award-winning classical musicians and athletes can remain active professionally while being allowed to complete basic military training and 544 hours of community service over 2 years and 8 months.
Earlier in 2021, many lawmakers proposed bills that called for those exemptions to apply to a wider base of artists. If there is a revision in the law, the Bangtan Boys could be exempt from military service due to their contribution to boosting the image of South Korea. Meanwhile, a plenary session will be held by the defense committee on Friday.
The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) released a statement ahead of the National Assembly meetings. It said that November is the last opportunity for the Bangtan Boys to be exempted from military service. The association also made a plea to the defense committee subcommittee to make a thoughtful decision.
According to the KMCA, BTS receives unfair treatment in comparison to classical artists when it comes to issues that involve mandatory military service, even though the K-pop group has made numerous unprecedented gains in the music industry.
The association added that the government should put an end to this long-standing prejudice and discrimination against popular artists.
K-pop fans and the boy band's global fandom community ARMY are monitoring the upcoming parliamentary meetings. Meanwhile, Jin, who is the eldest member of BTS, can only delay his military enlistment until the end of 2022, when he turns 30, as per the recent revisions in the act, which came into effect in 2020.
At the moment, the seven members of the extremely popular K-pop band are in the US, where they have a slew of events lined up for this and next month.
