Seoul leans toward alternative military service for BTS

South Korea is leaning toward allowing the K-pop boy band BTS to fulfill alternative service instead of active military duty, the country’s military recruitment chief said on Monday.

The Military Manpower Administration is reviewing whether or not to grant a special military service opportunity to the seven members of the global sensation. But it has ruled out exempting the K-pop star from the mandatory service, unlike sports medalists and fine arts competition winners.

Currently, the program does not apply to pop artists, whatever prestigious global awards they receive.

“For now, we are reviewing several options for their alternative service,” Lee Ki-shik, commissioner of the administration told lawmakers, asked about whether it has considered exempting BTS from the military duty.

“Adding pop culture artists to the list of those exempted from military service might violate the standards of the military service exemption program, so we are cautiously approaching this issue,” Lee said during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s defense committee on August 1.

During the session, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup stressed that an alternative military service option for BTS should not go against the principles of fairness and equality for all young men of the country. 

In a country still in conflict with North Korea, all able-bodied Korean men are required to serve in the military for about two years. But the armed force is suffering military manpower shortages due to a rapid decline in birth rates.

Minister Lee said that during their military service period, BTS might be given special consideration such as practicing as a group and performing global tours.

“Now we think highly of (pop artists) doing military service, the fact that they fulfill the duty might help sustain their popularity,” Lee added.

Whether or not to exempt BTS from military service has been a hotly debated topic, since they would have been the country’s first pop artists granted such special consideration.

Last June, BTS announced a temporary split to perform individually, but some speculated the decision could be related in part to their military service requirement. BTS’ oldest member RM, born in 1992, has deferred his service until the end of this year.

Write to You-Jong Lee at yjlee@hankyung.com
Yeonhee Kim edited this article.