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Will BTS Be Forced to Join the Army?
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Will BTS Be Forced to Join the Army?
They may have sold millions of records, but K-pop boyband BTS will not be excused from compulsory military service
BTS holds a concert in New Jersey, US. PHOTOGRAPH: BTS Official Facebook
BTS performing at a concert in New Jersey, US. PHOTOGRAPH: BTS Official Facebook

By Jenny Lee WIRED Korea

With videos of girls and boys dancing to K-pop tunes inundating YouTube, and millions of visitors pouring in for a glimpse of dazzling skyscrapers and stunning landscape of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, it is pretty clear that the world can’t get enough of the country, which, just a few decades ago, was mired in extreme poverty.

Joining the ranks of the world’s largest economies, South Korea, the 12th largest in 2018, has experienced a remarkable economic rise, driven by new technologies and advanced industries. It has also become the pop-culture hub of the East, churning out music and TV programs, better known as K-pop and K-drama, and entertaining fans from all corners of the globe.

What stands in stark contrast to what is unfolding in South Korea, however, is the fact that this country is technically still at war with its neighbor, North Korea. The two countries, which have been in a state of armistice since 1953, share one of the most – if not the most – heavily militarized borders in the world.

To guard against the massive North Korean army, the South Korean government imposes military conscription, or “the duty of national defense,” on all men between the ages of 18 and 35, pursuant to Article 39 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea and Article 8 of the Military Service Act. Those assigned active duty will serve around two years, depending on their assigned military branch.

Substitutes to military conscription – which many call exemptions – are granted to a smattering number of people including those who have “raised the national profile.” They have been primarily athletes who won any type of medal at the Olympic Games or a gold at the Asian Games, classical artists who won second place or higher at one of 29 international music competitions, 12 international dance contests or seven arts contests in South Korea.

In recent years, talks about whether to include pop stars and modern artists in the exemption parameters flared up, as K-pop boyband BTS scored a huge success overseas -- topping the U.S. Billboard charts multiple times and winning a 2019 Grammy nomination, to name only a few. Debuted in 2013, BTS reportedly accounts for more than $4.65 billion of South Korea’s GDP, the amount being as much as contribution by conglomerates like Samsung or Hyundai.

The seven members of BTS, whose ages range from 22 to 26, will have to enlist by the time they turn 28, when they might be at the peak of their singing careers. Online petitions started by its army of fans around the world had been – and still are – circulating to excuse them from military service, a topic that had also rattled the South Korean National Assembly.

At the National Defense Committee meeting in July, Rep. Ha Tae-kyung of the minor opposition Bareunmirae Party called for a reform of the exemption policy, casting doubt on the fairness of the current conscription system in which sports stars and classical musicians get exemptions from the nation’s draft while contemporary artists are not entitled to even be considered.

"You are given a military service waiver if you win first place in violin, piano and classical music competitions,” Ha said. “But you are not given one for ranking No.1 on the Billboard chart."

A revision plan to the military service law was announced in late November, and to many people’s dismay, the government denied giving exemption to BTS and other pop culture artists on the grounds that the number of men eligible for military service has fallen.

“There must be reasonable grounds like winning prizes through fair competition to excuse them from serving in the military,” said Kim Sang-kyum, a law professor at Dongguk University. “But ranking No. 1 on music charts of other countries is in no small part due to having a huge fandom, which is often the result of extensive marketing. If we were to give modern artists special treatment for doing their work and making money, we might have to let all people who make contributions to the country’s economic growth skip military service.”

Instead, the government announced it will raise the bar for all athletes and artists by tightening standards for exemption.

It will also downsize the exemption system, incrementally cutting 1,300 from the current 7,500 cap. While the quota for athletes and artists – which hovers around 45 annually – will remain the same, the quota for other qualified groups that are assigned to “special duty” – including master’s degree holders and skilled industrial personnel— will be greatly affected by the cut. Special duty refers to working at state-designated institutes and companies for three years in lieu of military service.

The reason for this move, Kim said, is to reflect today’s Korean society – a decline in population.

“We are seeing fewer and fewer industrial workers, and the number of graduate students in science and engineering is decreasing across the board,” the professor said. “The recent cutback makes sense because having that many slots for alternative military service is unnecessary, given the present circumstances.”

Those that will bear the brunt of this measure will be small and medium enterprises(SMEs) that already have difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified workers, said Lee Jong-won, president of the Korea Industrial Technology Association’s R&D Directors’ Council.

“Talented individuals are not interested in working at SMEs for many reasons, such as the challenge of finding a partner for marriage,” Lee said. “And thus far, SMEs were able to grow with the alternative military duty system supplying skilled workers to SMEs for up to three years. But once that supply line is interrupted, they will have a hard time surviving.”

The reduction will take effect from 2022, but complaints are already being made by disgruntled entrepreneurs, including Lee Byung-keuk, head of a Seoul-based 3D-printer maker Carima. Seven of 40 employees are on special duty, and they are all engaged in research and development at his company.

“Of course we will be affected; it’s very unlikely that we will get additional professionals on military duty,” Lee said. “And this will impede our activities as well as SME development in general.”

Regardless, the most important thing in executing the compulsory military service is ensuring fairness and equality, which is what the government is trying to achieve through the overhaul, the law professor said.

“Complaints are bound to arise in any system; it’s just impossible to satisfy everyone,” Kim said.

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