The oldest member of the K-pop ensemble BTS, Jin, has finished serving in the military in South Korea. Their hordes of admirers worldwide will still have to wait a minimum of a year for the reunion of all seven musicians.
The celebrity, who enlisted in the military for the first time in December 2022 and will serve for eighteen months, when he emerged on Wednesday from the 5th Army Infantry Division's base in northern Yeoncheon province, which is 60 km north of Seoul. He was welcomed by fellow band members J-hope, RM, V, Jungkook, and Jimin.
Before RM played the 2020 mega hit "Dynamite" by BTS on the saxophone, a grinning Jin saluted outside the camp gate. He then hugged other band members and gave him a huge bouquet of flowers.
By the time they are 28 years old, all physically fit men in South Korea must have served in the military for 18 to 21 months. This requirement is meant to keep the nation ready to fight, as it is still nominally at war with North Korea.
In October 2022, BTS’s management agency, Big Hit Music, verified that all seven artists were “moving forward with plans to fulfil their military service”.
The band will not be able to reform until RM, Jimin, Jungkook and V – the last four members of the band to join up – are discharged from military service in June 2025.
