J-Hope of BTS to begin mandatory South Korean military service

BTS star J-Hope was set to begin his necessary South Korean army service on Tuesday, native media reported, the second member to report for obligation for the reason that Ok-pop juggernaut went on hiatus final yr.

The septet has change into a world cultural phenomenon, promoting out stadiums and dominating charts whereas raking in billions for South Korea’s economic system and constructing a global legion of followers often called ARMY.

However all able-bodied South Korean males should serve at the very least 18 months within the army, and after a years-long debate about whether or not BTS deserved an exemption, Jin, the oldest member of the group, started his service in December.

J-Hope — whose full title is Jung Ho-seok — was set to start his five-week primary coaching at a military boot camp in Gangwon province on Tuesday, Yonhap Information Company reported. The 29-year-old posted photos of himself with a buzzcut on the South Korean social media platform Weverse on Monday. “I really like you, ARMY. I am going to go and are available again safely!” he stated.

The submit attracted hundreds of feedback from followers, with many expressing sorrow over the group’s ongoing hiatus.

“Watch out and keep wholesome… Say hello to Jin for us, please? We’ll miss you a lot!” one wrote.

“It fits you so nicely,” one other wrote of J-Hope’s buzzcut.

Jin left the remark “D-1” on one in all J-Hope’s Weverse posts on Monday — a nod to the very fact he had at some point left earlier than the beginning of his service.

The septet’s company HYBE had confirmed on April 1 that J-Hope would start his service, however didn’t disclose particulars “to forestall any points that may happen from crowding”. “The doorway ceremony is a time to be noticed by army personnel and their households solely,” it had stated.

“Followers are suggested to chorus from visiting the location.”

– ‘Excited’ –

J-Hope stated throughout a reside stream with followers final week that he was “excited” about his time within the army. “It is going to be a brand new expertise, and I can be studying to suit into a brand new society, and I am enthusiastic about that,” he stated. “Within the meantime, what I sit up for resides every day in a traditional approach, which is completely different from my regular life-style. This might make me more healthy.”

The band had cited exhaustion and the pressures of stratospheric success whereas dropping their bombshell hiatus announcement final yr, saying they had been taking a break to concentrate on their solo careers.

Analysts have questioned what the long run holds for the group in spite of everything seven members full their army service. Some male Ok-pop stars have struggled to renew their careers after army service in a cut-throat business the place artists are simply replaceable.

“In the course of the absence, (BTS) might lose their public curiosity, and the decline in reputation will injury their enterprise,” Lee Taek-gwang, a communications professor at Kyung Hee College, informed AFP.

“It might not be straightforward for the boy band to reunite… this isn’t solely the issue of BTS but additionally the issue of just about all (South Korean) boy bands and male celebrities.”