KUALA LUMPUR: In South Korea, every man is required to serve in the military for a year and a half, and that means the K-Pop boys and leading men of the screen must do so when they turn 28.
Koreaboo reported recently that while the country amended its Miltary Service Act to allow K-Pop singers with outstanding contributions to postpone military service until they turn 30, seven well-known stars have to enlist this year and put their careers on hold temporarily.
BTS' eldest member Jin is chief amongst them as he will be 30 in December. It will be hard for all ARMY (BTS fans) to see him go, but he is very much looking forward to donning khaki green military uniforms instead of stylish suits for a brief while.
Jin was granted permission to defer military service under the law, as the seven members of BTS were honoured with the Hwangan Order Of Culture by President Moon Jae-In last year.
PO of Block B is next on the list. He turned 29 last Feb 2 and received his notice for active duty last year, despite submitting documents for its postponement. The application was accepted but only up to the end of 2021.
WINNER's Mino also applied to postpone his enlistment last year. He turns 29 in March and cannot postpone military service any longer.
Ravi of VIXX turned 29 on Feb 15 and also cannot escape enlistment.
As for popular actor Song Kang, 27, he will be enlisting in April, despite talk of postponing it due to his appearance in the second season of the drama series Sweet Home.
Actor Nam Joo-Hyuk of Start-Up fame turns 28 this year and has to enlist before December.
Last but not least, EXO member Kai turns 28 and has to join the army. He has seen many of his bandmates leave for military service and subsequently return, and this means they would have told him about their boot camp experiences, good and bad.