Fans and reporters gather outside the 5th Infantry recruit training center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Dec. 13, where Jin of BTS fame was scheduled to begin his mandatory military service. (Yonhap)
Jin, a member of the music group BTS, began his military service with the South Korean Army on Tuesday afternoon as a soldier on active duty.
At around 2 pm that day, Jin arrived in a black Carnival for his induction at the ROK Army’s 5th Infantry Division recruit training center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province. For safety reasons, there were no special greetings upon his arrival.
Ahead of Jin’s induction, his agency Big Hit Music had asked fans to refrain from visiting the site to avoid potential safety issues.
A vehicle carrying Jin of BTS fame enters the 5th Infantry recruit training center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Dec. 13. (Yonhap)
The first BTS member to enter the military to date, Jin is scheduled to complete five weeks of basic military training before being assigned to a base to complete his 18 months of active-duty service. His expected discharge date is June 12, 2024.
From the morning hours, the induction site was packed with reporters and fans. Near the training center’s front gate were balloons and a purple banner reading, “We welcome the induction of Kim Seok-jin [Jin’s full name] and all the other soldiers.”
Before his induction, Jin wrote a message reading “Now it’s curtain call time” on the fan community platform Weverse earlier that day.
On Sunday, Jin shared a photograph of himself with his hair buzzed short for his induction.
A banner in BTS’ signature purple welcoming Jin’s enlistment flies in the sky outside the 5th Infantry recruit training center in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, on Dec. 13, where Jin of BTS fame was scheduled to begin his mandatory military service. (Yonhap)
Based on an amendment to the Military Service Act in 2020, Jin’s induction had been postponed until the end of 2022, but last month he submitted a request to cancel the deferment and move up his induction date.
Born in 1992, Jin is the oldest member of BTS. With his induction, other members appear set to follow suit in turn. Suga was born in 1993, J-Hope and RM in 1994, Jimin and V in 1995, and Jungkook in 1997.
Jin of BTS. (from Weverse)
According to reports, Suga has been assigned to a social service agent position as an alternative to military service.
On Tuesday, the Asia Business Daily quoted a South Korean military official saying that Suga had been assigned as a social service agent.
But the official also said that Suga could go into active duty if he wants to even if he has been assigned as a social service agent.
Big Hit Music remained quiet on the issue, saying only that the BTS members were “scheduled to perform their military service in their own sequence based on their own individual plans.”
Suga of BTS performs(courtesy of Big Hit Music)
“We can’t confirm specifics regarding personal information,” it added.
After a traffic accident in 2012, Suga was diagnosed the following year with a dislocated humerus (the bone connecting the shoulder to the elbow). He continued to experience shoulder pain, until a 2019 test showed that cartilage had torn around his left shoulder joint.
In November 2020, he underwent surgery to repair his torn shoulder labrum.
By Jung Hyuk-june, staff reporter
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