South Korea Passes Law Allowing K-Pop Band BTS Members To Postpone Military Service
In a major move, the South Korean parliament has passed a bill allowing music sensation BTS and other musicians to postpone their mandatory military service until the age of 30.
In
a
major
move,
the
South
Korean
parliament
has
passed
a
bill
allowing
music
sensation
BTS
and
other
musicians
to
postpone
their
mandatory
military
service
until
the
age
of
30.
As
per
the
South
Korean
laws,
all
able-bodied
South
Korean
men,
aged
between
18
and
28,
are
required
to
serve
in
the
military
for
about
two
years,
reported
New
York
Times.
Two
of
the
members
of
the
group,
Jin
and
Suga,
will
soon
turn
28
and
their
with
the
group
was
under
threat.
According
to
the
revised
Military
Service
Act,
"a
pop
culture
artist
who
was
recommended
by
the
Minister
of
Culture,
Sports
and
Tourism
to
have
greatly
enhanced
the
image
of
Korea
both
within
the
nation
and
throughout
the
world" would
be
allowed
to
postpone
their
military
service
until
age
of
30
if
they
do
not
have
an
extraordinary
reason.
Before
revision,
the
Military
Service
Act
only
gave
deferral
exceptions
to
athletes,
classical
musicians,
and
those
who
enrolled
in
Ph.D.
programs
abroad.
All
seven
members
of
BTS
--
the
full
name
is
Bangtan
Sonyeondan
(Bulletproof
Boy
Scouts)
or
Beyond
The
Scene
as
their
English
branding
--
meet
that
requirement
as
they
were
awarded
the
medal
in
2018.
The
fans
of
the
group,
known
as
the
BTS
Army,
celebrated
the
legal
change
on
social
media,
calling
it
a
gift
to
Jin
ahead
of
his
birthday
on
December
4.
"Congratulations
Jin.
I
can't
tell
you
my
happiness," one
fan
wrote
on
Twitter.
Another
user
said,
"Yo
yo
yo!!!
The
New
BTS
Law
is
passed
in
SKorea!
Which
means
Jin's
military
service
is
postponed
till
he
is
30!
ARMY
REJOICE!"
The
septet
--
comprising
RM,
Jin,
Suga,
J-Hope,
Jimin,
V
and
Jungkook
--
recently
earned
their
first
mainstream
Grammy
Award
nomination
in
the
best
pop/duo
group
performance
for
"Dynamite".
They
were
previously
up
for
an
obscure
best
recording
package
Grammy
in
2019
for
'Love
Yourself:
Tear'.
The
group
also
topped
the
Billboard
Hot
100
chart
with
"Life
Goes
On",
the
lead
single
of
their
recently
released
album
'BE'
(Deluxe
Edition).
The
song,
a
soothing
melody
reflecting
the
state
of
life
under
the
ongoing
coronavirus
pandemic,
also
topped
the
Billboard
200
chart.
On
the
Billboard
Hot
100
chart,
"Life
Goes
On" is
closely
followed
by
the
Grammy-nominated
"Dynamite",
the
closing
track
of
'BE',
on
No
3
this
week.
"Dynamite",
which
is
the
music
group's
first
full-fledged
English
single,
previously
topped
the
Billboard
Hot
100
chart
in
September,
making
BTS
the
first
pop
act
from
South
Korea
to
achieve
this
feat.
According
to
Billboard,
BTS
is
the
first
duo
or
group
in
history
to
have
two
No
1
Hot
100
debut
songs.
Other
five
songs
from
the
eight-track
album
'BE'
also
found
their
place
on
the
Hot
100
chart
with
"Blue
&
Grey"
on
No
13,
"Stay"
on
No
22,
"Fly
To
My
Room"
on
No
69,
closely
followed
by
"Telepathy"
on
No
70
and
"Dis-ease"
on
No
72.