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BTS apply for military service postponement, fans look forward to OT7 world tour 2022

With Jin's birthday in December, the oldest BTS member would have had to enlist in the military next month

After noticing K-pop and BTS’ global influence and the cultural and economic assets that they are for South Korea, the government passed a bill at the end of 2020 that changed the maximum age limit for a K-pop idol to enlist from the age of 28 to 30. This allowed the eldest member, Jin to stay with his group for one more year as he turned 29 last year. But with his birthday nearing in December, fans and the culture ministry urged the government to consider a complete military exemption for BTS. And while the decision taken may not make some fans happy, we just might get an OT7 world tour in 2022.

After much talk about BTS’ mandatory military service, South Korea finally agreed to take a decision on the matter in June. A representation asked for an amendment in the mandatory military service law that would allow pop culture personalities like BTS to be exempt. Till now, athletes and people with disabilities are exempt from mandatory service. The National Defense Commission of South Korea agreed to a hearing but there is opposition from the likes of the MCON Association (Korea Music Contents Association).

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The National Defense Committee holds a hearing

MCON had explained that the impact of pop culture was much lower than sports and Olympic champions who contributed to South Korea’s history. They also explained how pop culture is linked to personal gain and commercial goals unlike the merits and aims of athletes. And despite the economic advantage that BTS provided the country like the $5 billion they brought in last year, that is a win in capitalism. But one can’t compare it to the contribution and national prestige brought by the 1804 sportspeople that were exempt from the military law according to MCON.

And on November 25, the National Assembly Defense Committee Bill Review Subcommittee discussed the proposal after hearing from all parties. The Ministry of National Defense clarified that it was still difficult to expand the exemption clause from sports to arts as there are no clear-cut criteria. But the People’s Party countered that BTS had enough qualifications having brought South Korea to an international level in terms of culture and entertainment. But with BTS also speaking up in favor of completing their mandatory military service, the committee couldn’t come to a decision.

BTS apply for postponement

But while there is still no decision about including pop culture icons like BTS in the exemption clause, we did get some good news on November 26. It was reported that BTS will still have seven members next year as all of the members of the K-pop group including Jin had applied for a deferment which would allow them to postpone their call to duty till December 2022. Fans are looking at the silver lining as this allows the global K-pop group to go on a world tour in 2022 with all seven members. RM had already spoken about an upcoming tour during the 2021 AMAs.

'It means BTS world tour 2022'

‘World Tour 2022’ started trending as fans made tweets like, “Y'ALL IT MEANS BTS WORLD TOUR 2022 IS COMING,” “And when BTS announce world tour 2022 at the end of the last concert,” and “BTS WILL REMAIN PERFORMING AS A 7-PIECE NEXT YEAR DUE TO MILITARY POSTPONEMENT. BTS WORLD TOUR 2022, LET'S F*CKING GOOOOOO.”