From NOTICE News Daily for March 02, 2023
BTS hasn’t been in the public eye lately – but they’re not breaking up. All six members of the wildly popular South Korean boy band are enlisting in the military, following South Korean law that states all able-bodied men must serve in the military for 18 months. One member just began his service in March. >> Full story from NBC News
TRANSCRIPT
Chances are you know BTS…
Sound: BTS Song
…one of the most successful music acts of all time.
But you may be wondering why they haven’t released new music in a while. It’s not because they’ve broken up to go solo, it’s actually because they’re joining the military. According to South Korean law, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for 18 months, typically before they turn 28.
In October of 2022, BTS’s label, Big Hit Music, confirmed that all five members would enlist and then reunite in 2025 once they had all finished their service. Just this week, one member, J-Hope, officially began his service and is the second of the 6 to do so.
The South Korean government has allowed exemptions for high profile artists in the past, but BTS plans to enlist anyway. This type of law regarding forced military service is called conscription.
It’s been in place in South Korea since 1957, and believe it or not, the United States has a long history of conscription. Conscription – also called the draft – was active during the Civil War, both World Wars, and most recently during the Vietnam War and wasn’t completely done away with until 1973.
While there hasn’t been a draft since then, some lawmakers lobbied for it during the war in Iraq in 2003 and it’s a topic that’s still debated today.