SEOUL, South Korea — The South Korean Army has admitted two new recruits: Pvt. Jeon Jung-kook, 26, and Pvt. Park Ji-min, 28.
Better known around the world simply as “Jung Kook” and “Jimin,” the two are the last members of supergroup BTS to be inducted for 18 months of compulsory training. That means that the entire seven-man supergroup is now doing national service.
The recruitment of what is arguably the world’s most popular band, starting with the oldest member, Kim Seok-jin, better known as Jin, who entered boot camp last December, is not without controversy.
Fans grumble that the young men should be allowed to skip military service for a greater national good: their continued promotion of the South Korean image to their millions of K-pop fans worldwide.
The band has been compared to The Beatles and has addressed the U.N. General Assembly. The Bank of Korea has estimated the spillover effects of merchandise sales and tourism from BTS’ popularity add a hefty $5 billion annually to the national economy.
But at a time when the army is facing a plunge in inductees, and a Korean American rapper who fled his military service obligation has just won a yearslong court case to be allowed to return to Korea, not everyone agrees the men should have gotten a pass.
The equality issue
Evasion of military service by the rich, powerful and connected has long strained South Korea’s social fiber. Analysts say declining to exempt the members of BTS sends a message not just of duty and patriotism, but of social inclusion.
“These days, the [government of President Yoon Suk Yeol] is all about justice and equality,” said Jee Hong-ki, a retired lieutenant colonel in the South Korean army.
Controversially, world-class South Korean athletes and classical musicians can earn exemptions from military service, but pop stars — however successful — have no official escape route.
Excusing BTS members from military service would “create all sorts of fields for exemption,” Mr. Jee continued.
David Tizzard, who teaches Korea Studies at Seoul Women’s University and has studied youth opinion in the country, agrees.
“A primary value for Korean people is fairness — while [the notoriously stressful college entrance exam] might suck, it sucks for rich and poor equally,” he said.
While he admitted that an argument exists for exempting the mega-successful band from service, he suggested that a bigger principle is at work.
“Some soft power does not penetrate deeply, but these are real values that improve Korea’s reputation” more than pop hits, he said. “It shows it is capable of applying the rule of law to all citizens, equally.”
Rapper’s plight
The willingness of BTS members to do their duty puts the case of Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo, into sharper perspective.
The rapper, now 47, had a successful career in South Korea in the late 1990s. However, despite saying publicly that he would serve, the singer, famed for his physical fitness, avoided his obligation by taking out U.S. citizenship in 2002.
That prompted South Korean courts to bar him from reentering the country. Many of his hits were pulled from the airwaves.
Mr. Yoo – who has long since passed the military service age of 38 — has filmed a video in which he pleads to be allowed to return to Korea, and filed legal appeals.
In November, courts confirmed that he should be allowed to return on the grounds that he has passed the age of service. The Ministry of Justice and the Military Manpower Administration are reportedly discussing “follow-up measures.”
“Many of the public considered he was not doing his duty but wanted his rights, and that was not fair,” said Mr. Ji. “Now it is two decades past and he has paid a price for what he did, so maybe sentiment has eased.”
The case is still pending.
Filling the ranks
The conscript-manned South Korean Army needs every man — women are not mandated to serve, but can volunteer — it can get its hands on. The country, in the midst of a demographic plunge, is facing a recruitment crisis.
According to the Korea Institute of Defense Analysis, the armed forces, currently fielding 480,000 personnel, have fallen below the 500,000-man level for the first time since the Korean War.
That makes it less than half the size of the 1.1 million-strong North Korean military, much of which is massed just north of the Demilitarized Zone. Moreover, the South Korean armed forces will fall below the 400,000 mark by 2038, the KIDA report found.
But military service is not popular, and the South Korean Army has not always enjoyed a positive reputation. Newspapers once regularly reported on cases of bullying, hazing, sexual abuse and sometimes fatal training accidents in the ranks.
Things are better now, but the middle-class troops of today, with access to mobile phones and abuse hotlines, lack the hardiness of their predecessors. Many commanders have been forced to tone down training to avoid potentially career-damaging complaints from angry parents, leading to readiness fears from retired military officers.
All of which makes the willingness of the BTS 7 to serve a big deal here.
“I think the military is a place where men should definitely go,” Pvt. Jeon said in a widely reported social media post Friday. He and bandmate Pvt. Park, released images on social media of their pre-boot camp buzz cuts.
The band’s management company has urged the group’s sometimes zealous legion of fans — known, coincidentally, as “The ARMY” — not to visit their bases in hopes of grabbing a glimpse of their idols.
The ARMY should be pleased to learn that the army does not mean the end of BTS.
Elvis Presley’s management team famously kept their man in the spotlight while he did his military service. Other K-pop stars, including Psy and G-Dragon, have emerged from service to resume successful careers.
When it comes to BTS, a plan is apparently in place to build on the group’s catalog of hits.
“We have prepared so much that you can look forward to it,” Pvt. Jeon said on social media just prior to his induction.
• Andrew Salmon can be reached at asalmon@washingtontimes.com.
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