Jin, Jimin, V, RM, J-Hope, Suga and Jungkook, the seven members of the K-pop phenomenon, BTS, can change stage outfits for military uniforms.
Less than three weeks before South Korea's new president, Yoon Suk-yeol, takes office, the country has been embroiled in a debate over whether someone should be excluded from compulsory national service - long seen as an essential preparation for a potential conflict with its volatile neighbor, North Korea.
The multi-award winning group - which has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and received two Grammy nominations - has been at the center of speculation to be excluded from the military program since 2020, when it became the band. the first K-pop to reach number one on the US charts with their song "Dynamite".
South Korea demands that all physically and mentally fit men between the ages of 18 and 28 serve in the military for at least 18 months to protect the country from threats from North Korea, which recently resumed missile testing long-range ballistics. Under current law, only winners of the Olympic and Asian Games and globally acclaimed classical musicians are excluded or allowed to perform alternative public services.
BTS alone is worth more than $ 3.54 billion a year to the South Korean economy, according to a 2018 report by the Hyundai Research Institute - a figure equal to the contribution made by 26 medium-sized companies. The institute said the group was the reason 800,000 foreign tourists visited the country last year.
Polls show that most South Koreans support an alternative to compulsory military service for BTS, but some expressed concern that, without clear instructions, a change in the law could be exploited by other people.
