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Astro begin their military enlistment era with MJ, fans promise, ‘We will never leave you’

MJ has asked fans to keep waiting on Astro until he returns after his military duty, which has made many fans of the boy group very emotional

Look’s like it’s Astro’s turn now to start their era of military enlistments. Every K-pop boy group goes through a phase where one after the other, all Korean-born members of the group undergo their mandatory military enlistment. During this time, the rest of the group continues to promote with the remaining active members present as they wait for the enlisted member.

On April 9, it was announced that Astro’s oldest member MJ (Kim Myung-jun) will take the lead for the 2016 boy group from Fantagio Entertainment and start his military enlistment in May of 2022. MJ, who is 28 years old, is said to enlist in the next month which comes as a shocker to many fans because the singer had been on a hiatus for quite some time now due to his health issues.

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MJ is the first Astro member to enlist in the military

Back in January 2022, MJ announced his hiatus from his Astro as well as solo activities following health complications. Now that fans had hoped to see the vocalist in Astro’s upcoming comeback, the news of his enlistment has made fans emotional. Fantagio Entertainment announced that MJ will depart for his basic military training at the training center from May 9 onwards and bid a temporary farewell to fans as he completes his military duty. MJ has chosen to join the military band for his mandatory enlistment which will last for 18 months in total barring holidays.

The label also stated that the location and the exact date of MJ’s enlistment will be kept private to prevent the spread of Covid. The sudden news of MJ’s enlistment added to the fact that fans had been wishing to catch a glimpse of the trot singer who has been on a hiatus for months. Fans have started trending the phrase ‘ASTRO We Will Never Leave You’ on Twitter. MJ made his solo debut with the single album ‘Happy Virus’ back in November 2021 which was the start of his new journey as a solo Trot singer.

‘I’m getting emotional’

At Astro’s recent Aroha fan festival, MJ requested fans to wait for the boy group to return and become whole again which is why upon hearing the news of his enlistment, fans got emotional and started making a promise to wait for the members. One fan said, "When MJ announced his enlistment, ngl I thought of taking a rest until he comes back, but MJ doesn't want that. He wants me to support the rest of the members while he's gone. I'm here to stay, Astro. ASTRO WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU.”

Another fan said, “Wake me up when it's 8th nov 2023. uri eunwoo's son,jinjin's soulmate,binnie's strength,rocky's fav hyung and sanha's crime partner we will miss you.” Another fan said, “They are my happiness and there is no way that I want to leave my happiness in this lifetime.”

One fan promised, “Promised to myself that i would never leave astro no matter what.. even if i had to wait for a long time.” One more fan said, “I’m at work and I’m seeing posts of MJ and ASTRO WE WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU and I’m getting emotional all over again my boys, we’ll always be here, waiting for every single one of you to come back, to be complete again I love you guys so much.”