Required military service comes for all, even BTS’ Suga

That’s Suga on YouTube. Which is how we’ll be appreciating this K-Pop singer for the next eighteen months or so. As South Korean law states, all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 35 must enlist for about 18 months of military service.

It doesn’t matter if you have millions of fans across the globe, for your band BTS, or your solo work. When South Korean duty calls, you hear the music! Ah, but those fans, those millions of die-hard Suga fans, with their own X formerly Twitter account called minsugahq, they can’t believe their guy is called away to do his part to defend his homeland. Here’s just one post from minsugahq.

Funny, that’s like what they said about Elvis Presley when he did his military service. Over the years, athletes, entertainers, even USC international students, have been conscripted.

Alexander Song: I was so scared I could barely speak Korean.

Alexander Song is a senior from South Korea. He returned this semester after spending the last 21 months in the South Korean Air Force.

Song: I mean, I lived half my life in Korea, but I was I went to an international school, so basically, they punished you if you spoke Korean.

South Korea is not the only country with a law mandating military service. Micah Chow is a graduating junior from Singapore. He finished his required service before starting at USC.

Micah Chow: People do believe that it is kind of like a rite of passage for Singapore males where like, oh, your father did it and now you are doing it.

But at the same time, Chow says the younger generation can be cynical about serving in the military.

Chow: because it can be associated with all sorts of like, like some like outdated values, like a bit of like masculinity or like masculine centric and like traditional practices.

And yet, after completing his service, Chow saw some good in it.

Chow: As someone who grew up in Singapore, national service does help me to feel that closer to my country because like, I know what like why it is important and like what I’m fighting for.

It’ll be interesting to see what effects military service has on Suga and BTS and their musical tastes and songs. The military is supposed to make you grow up fast, so we’ll see what happens when a boy band becomes a man band.

For Annenberg Media, I’m Quinten Seghers.