BTS announced on its latest Las Vegas concert that they are dropping a new album in June. The boys are keeping their promise as new details of the album are announced.
According to Billboard Magazine, the K-pop stars shared more about the forthcoming release of the new album by releasing a "logo trailer" for the album. It hinted that the LP will be an anthology of their music catalogue thus far.
Could this be their ticket to be exempted from the military service? It is proof enough that they are big in the US, and in other countries, and therefore, deserving of such exemption?
Should BTS be excluded from the necessary military duty in the country? Yes, they should, according to South Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, mainly because they have not only made it big in South Korea, but also in the US, and in many other parts of the world. Fame is not the reason though- the fact that they are able to elevate South Korean culture, is.
They are now collaborating with so many American artists, too. Coldplay for example. And then the one with Snoop Dogg is in the works. Lizzo is even hinting!
South Korean men between the ages of 18 and 28 are obligated to serve at least 18 months in the military. That harsh reality has hung over ARMY's heads almost since the group's inception nearly a decade ago, but never more so than today, as eldest member Jin, 29, prepares to enlist by December. While the country exempts some exceptional athletes and classical musicians from the necessary military service, pop singers do not now enjoy a similar exemption.
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However, the Yonhap Press Agency reports that South Korea's Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Hwang Hee stated during a news conference on Wednesday (May 4) that the rule should be changed.
It's time to create a system for incorporating popular culture-art figures as art personnel," Hee reportedly said. "The system has been operated meaningfully to give those who have enhanced the national status based on their excellent skills more chances to contribute to the country, and there is no reason the popular art-culture field should be excluded from this."
For the time being, qualified athletes and classical musicians can serve in their fields rather than in the military as part of their job in promoting their country's image overseas. And, much to ARMY's joy, Hee expressly cited BTS in his pitch for broadening the exemption rule.
"I thought somebody should be a responsible voice at a time when there are conflicting pros and cons ahead of the enlistment of some of the BTS members," said Hee, who is scheduled to resign from office on Monday to make room for People Power Party leader Yoon Seok-newly youl's elected conservative government.
According to Yonhap, Hee requested that parliament expeditiously pass the exemption measure.
In 2018, the country implemented a change to the Military Duty Act (dubbed the "BTS Law"), allowing K-pop artists to postpone their military service until they reach the age of 30. The rule permitted K-pop artists to request for a postponement if they had obtained government medals for advancing South Korea's cultural influence abroad. All seven members of BTS qualified after receiving the government's Hwagwan orders of cultural merit during the 2018 Korean Popular Culture & Arts Awards.
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