Calls grow for BTS to skip or delay military service as ‘not everyone has to take up a rifle to serve the country’

One politician says that BTS could work as overseas ambassadors – comments that follow another’s proposal to revise the law so stars could delay their service

The public also mostly appears to support special treatment for the band, according to a survey last month by domestic news website Kuki News

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BTS recently became the first South Korean group to reach No 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Published: 1:15pm, 7 Oct 2020Updated: 1:15pm, 7 Oct 2020

Calls are mounting in South Korea for members of megaband BTS to be granted alternatives or delays to mandatory military service, with some lawmakers and fans arguing they are doing plenty for their country without wearing a soldier’s uniform.

By law, all able-bodied men in South Korea aged between 18 and 28 must serve in the military for roughly two years as part of the country’s defences against North Korea.

The eldest member of the band, Jin, is 27 and will be required to sign up by the end of next year while the other six will reach the age of conscription over the next few years.

South Korea has granted exemptions for high-profile athletes such as Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min as well as classical musicians such as award-winning pianist Cho Seong-jin, but to date there have been none for K-pop stars.

Some lawmakers and fans argue that BTS are doing plenty for their country without wearing a soldier’s uniform. Photo: EPA

“Not everyone has to take up a rifle to serve the country,” Noh Woong-rae, a senior member of the ruling Democratic Party, told a party meeting on Monday in comments that received widespread media coverage.

Noh suggested BTS members could work as ambassadors in their overseas travels to promote a group of islets at the centre of a territorial dispute with Japan. His comments follow a proposal by fellow party member Jeon Yong-gi last month to revise the law so that some K-pop stars could delay their service until the age of 30.