Four members of the superstar South Korean boy band BTS have successfully completed their mandatory military service.
Four members of the superstar South Korean boy band BTS successfully completed their mandatory military service on Tuesday and Wednesday, welcomed home by hundreds of adoring fans and offering patriotic statements thanking the nation’s armed forces and encouraging fans to be kind and warm to soldiers.
BTS is by many metrics the most successful music act in the history of South Korea, attracting international acclaim and selling tens of millions of albums before the members enlisted in the military. They broke Billboard chart records and are the first group to have Korean-language songs nominated for American Grammy Awards.
The band went on hiatus in 2023 after confessing to exhaustion, allowing the members to use their time to complete their mandatory military services. South Korean law requires all able-bodied men to serve in the military for a period of between 18 to 21 months. Most men have until the age of 28 to enlist; BTS’s members received an extension through age 30 but most enlisted before reaching that milestone.
BTS began its hiatus shortly after a visit to the White House to support anti-racism efforts by the administration of President Joe Biden.
The two discharged on Wednesday are members Jimin and Jungkook. The two completed 18 months of military services without incident, serving in the Army’s 5th Infantry Division Artillery Brigade in Yeoncheon, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency detailed.
Their discharge became a massive celebration attracting hundreds of people on Wednesday, apparently causing the two members some anxiety.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been in front of a camera, and I’m a bit embarrassed because I didn’t even put on makeup, so I don’t know what to say,” Jongkook joked.
