BTS 10th anniversary: Global Superstars yet South Korea made no exception for Army service

June 13 is special to superstar South Korean boy band BTS and their fans because it is the date of their debut in 2013. The K-pop boy band released their first single, ‘No More Dream’, on that day as part of their debut album, '2 Cool 4 Skool'. Since then, BTS has gone on to become one of the most popular and successful music groups in the world, winning numerous awards and breaking numerous records

It all became public as the singer’s fans ran a social media blitz with his pictures as a man in a military uniform. Jung Ho-seok -- better known by his stage name of J-Hope -- a member of South Korea’s BTS boy band recently joined his stipulated army service.

In the photos, he was eating morsels of a frugal meal. No caviar here! No exquisitely presented canapés of Scottish langoustines wrapped in smoked salmon with citrus crème fraiche! And no Pol Roger Brut Réserve non-vintage champagne to wash it down with. Instead, wheat rice, stir-fried fish cake with red pepper, stir-fried pork small intestine and sundae, white kimchi, Instant Black Bean Ramen and sausage jjigae was all he was having as a conscripted soldier in the South Korean Army. 

It was a purely personal moment in the life of a defence personnel who had the onerous duty of protecting his country’s borders and the photos flooded Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. But that is the way the cookie crumbles in South Korea (no pun intended!), as in several other countries around the world, like Israel, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil and Iran! 

On October 17, 2022, a decision was made that all seven band members of BTS -- one of the world’s largest bands and the first K-pop band that clinched a Grammy nomination -- would be enlisting for one-and-a-half to two years in the country’s military. 

In South Korea, military service of 18 to 21 months is compulsory for physically fit men aged between 18 and 35, though there have been rare exemptions. The decree that the BTS members would have to serve time in the army ended a lengthy nationwide debate over whether the group should be exempted from service. 

Jin, the eldest band member, turned 30 in December 2022. He promptly changed his stage outfit for an army uniform. The other members -- all born between 1993 and 1997 -- will have to do the same when their time comes. 

Group manager Big Hit Music expects the BTS to reunite on stage once again in or around 2025. Another of the band’s members, J-Hope (29), enrolled for mandatory military service, a management official said on February 27, two months after the group’s eldest member began his service.

There was a nationwide uproar about how much foreign exchange the band contributed to South Korea’s economy and how invaluable they were to the growth of the economy, in general. The Hyundai Research Institute estimated in a 2018 report that the band contributed $3.6 billion to the country’s economy each year. A Forbes report said BTS’s YouTube channel, by itself, raked in up to $2 million a month.

The news of BTS’s conscription to the army did not come as a surprise to its fans, as they had earlier said they would enlist in due time. Conscription in South Korea is sacrosanct and celebutantes rarely, if ever, get a reprieve. This reflects the country’s commitment to national defence.

DEBUT ANNIVERSARY

June 13 is a special day for BTS. In honour of their debut anniversary, BTS often holds special events and releases new music on the day. In 2022, they released their anthology album, 'Proof', which includes several of their greatest hits. They also held a live concert on YouTube, where they performed songs from the album and interacted with their fans.

BTS has achieved critical acclaim and is hugely successful commercially across the world. They have won umpteen awards, including six American Music Awards, two Billboard Music Awards and a Grammy Award nomination. 

In 2018, Billboard named them Top Social Artist for the third year running. They have sold more than 20 million albums globally, making them one of the best-selling music groups of all time.