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All seven members of BTS are now either serving in South Korea’s military or preparing to enter service.
The group’s label, BIGHIT MUSIC, confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook have officially started the process of fulfilling their compulsory enlistment periods in the South Korean military. Enlistment requirements for all young men in the country typically range from 18 to 21 months.
These members will be joining bandmates Jin, SUGA, and j-hope, who staggered their enlistment duties over the past year.
Since eldest member Jin began his time in the military in December of 2022, BTS have released solo projects in succession, while each expressing their intention to reunite as a group in 2025. Currently, Jin’s estimated discharge date is slated for June 12th, 2024, one day before BTS’s 11th anniversary on June 13th. Meanwhile, j-hope is expected to return in fall of 2024, while SUGA’s estimated discharge date is in June of 2025.
In the military announcement from BIGHIT MUSIC, they shared, “The artists are preparing to fulfill their military service duties. We will inform you of further updates in due course.” No entry date for the four members has been announced.
Enlisting this close to one another is relatively unusual for K-pop groups, whose members often promote in sub-units and spread out military service duties to avoid having every member of a group gone at the same time. BTS, instead, have chosen to enlist as close to one another as possible.
Following the announcement, Jung Kook took to fan communication platform Weverse to share his thoughts in a letter. “This December, I will be starting a new journey. I’m going to leave your side for a short bit to serve in the military. While sharing this news with you, my heart feels heavy in one sense, yet in another, my heart feels warm with the recollection of the precious memories spent with ARMYs.”
The news arrives as Jung Kook completes promotions for his solo project, Golden. Meanwhile, having recently teased studio time, RM may have launched a new Instagram account related to his own upcoming project — the mysterious page, shared by RM, currently has no posts and only follows the artist himself.
[231122 Jungkook Weverse Post]
🐰 dear armys whom i love
its already the end of november, and the wind is feeling chilly
im sure that you already know, so im writing a short letter to all of you— 미니융 🧸 (@miiniyoongs) November 22, 2023
