BTS’ Remaining Members Depart for Mandatory Military Service

BTS members V, RM, Jungkook, and Jimin are finally active members of the South Korean military. As their fellow bandmates Jin, J-hope, and Suga are already serving their government’s requirements in the armed forces, the four K-pop celebrities followed suit.

During the recent military deployment of the youngest member, Jungkook, BTS’ eldest member, Jin, shared his feelings of emotion as he sent him off. On December 14th, Jin posted to his account, “I thought it would be funny, but tears came,” sharing a photo with Jimin and Jungkook. It was a different mood from when he sent off RM and V on December 10th, tinged with a more profound sense of significance.

On December 11th, RM and V entered the Nonsan Army Training Center in Chungnam, while on December 12th, Jimin and Jungkook joined the 5th Infantry Division’s New Recruit Training Center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, where Jin is presently serving as an instructor.

As a result, all members of the K-pop group have now completed their active duty enlistment, with the exception of Suga, who has been assigned to a social service worker status because of a shoulder injury. As Jimin shared through the fan platform Weverse prior to enlisting, “I think it will be very supportive to enlist with Jungkook. I will do well and return.”

Jungkook said, “It has been a really busy life. Thanks to this, I go to the military after having happy activities. I believe the military is a place every man should naturally go.” RM shared, “We hope to live our lives earnestly in our respective places and return with brighter smiles and hearts filled with more casual and genuine emotions. Goodbye for now. See you in the future.” 

V (who applied for the Special Mission Troop (SMT) of the Military Police of the Capital Defense Command per Business Times) said, “I will miss you very much.” “Honestly, I regret I will not be able to make happy memories with ARMY for the time being,” he wrote, using the collective name for the BTS fandom. “If it weren’t for that, it’s all fine, but that’s the most difficult.” “After these long 18 months I will return healthier, so please take care of your health ARMY and find happiness in the day to day,” he added.

South Korean law requires that all men who can perform military service for at least 18 to 21 months must do so. Members of the BTS have already been granted a two-year extension to their mandatory military service, and top performers and musicians have also been permitted exemptions from serving.

In December last year, Jin became the first member to enlist, followed by J-hope in April. Suga enlisted next in September. It is expected that Jin will be the first to be discharged next June and that all group members will have completed their service by June 2025, allowing full group activities to resume.

In March, Bang Si-hyuk, founder of BTS’ record label, BIGHIT MUSIC, gave an interview for CNN’s Quest on Business, where he addressed BTS’ current hiatus from group activities due to their members’ South Korean military service, as well as gave assurances that their future activities would go on as planned.

“From the career’s point of view, no artist would be happy to have such a long pause against their will. I think it’s a separate issue from the mindset that we faithfully and gladly serve the country. Yet BTS and I were talking about this since early 2018,” Bang Si-hyuk said when asked about the military responsibilities of the members in an interview. “So it’s been long discussed, and we’re not done yet.”

“We’ve been prepared to turn this into a turning point in their career,” said the 50-year-old producer. “It’s obviously true that they needed this time of rest after such an intense period of hard work. They can’t remain the BTS of today, but need to grow and change as artists.”