Choi Seung-hyun, better known by his stage name T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and actor. (Photo : Facebook/BIGBANG)
BIGBANG's T.O.P, whose real name is Choi Seung Hyun, will be the first to enlist in the two-year mandatory military service. It is said that the 28-year-old singer-songwriter will enlist in active duty before the year ends or in early 2017, as he can no more postpone his mandatory service.
The news follows earlier reports claiming that the five-member boy group is reportedly planning on enlisting and fulfilling the mandatory military service at the same time. It is said that the other four members - G-Dragon, Taeyang, Seungri, and Daesung - are planning to enter the military around the same period as T.O.P in order to lessen the length of their hiatus.
However, YG Entertainment's CEO Yang Hyun-Suk was keen to deny the reports and even stated to Soompi that the boy group have never discussed enlisting in the military at the same time and will not do as such in the future. CEO Yang added that BIGBANG will enlist one at a time and stressed their plans to take legal actions against the rumors.
"Big Bang's oldest member T.O.P will enlist first, and then other members will follow one by one," another unnamed representative from YG Entertainment told All K-pop. "In fact, G-Dragon and Taeyang are preparing solo albums for next year."
It was reported previously that the remaining four other members will carry out the group's forthcoming activities and promotions as planned, while T.O.P is completing his military service. The rumor mill has it that BIGBANG's leader G-Dragon and Taeyang will enlist sooner or later in 2017 and will be followed by Daesung and Seungri in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
In other news, T.O.P, who is noted for his low-bass timbre rapping, will make his big screen appearance in a German-Chinese thriller film "Out of Control" before military enlistment. He will be acting along with award-winning Hong Kong actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-Chi.
"Out of Control" follows a Chinese film and martial arts actress (Cheung) who is caught by a perilous plot while visiting the Berlin Film Festival. Her survival and the success of the major rescue mission rely upon on a top Korean Interpol agent, Tom Young (T.O.P), who happens to be her ex-fiancé. It is co-directed by Axel Sand and Richard Lin based on a script penned by Andreas Heckmann.
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