SHINee's Taemin misses fans while military training, Shawols trend 'handsome soldier'
Having debuted at the age of 15, all fans have a soft spot for Taemin, the maknae (youngest) of SHINee. While three of the members all enlisted at the same time two years ago, Taemin was the last member to enlist for his mandatory military service in May 2021. And Shawols have been cheering him on and sending him supportive messages while he completes his service. After the K-pop idol received basic training, he has started serving his country by joining the military band.
Last month, on August 29, fans got a glimpse of him in his official post as the military band posted a photo with Taemin, BTOB’s Sungjae and Teen Top’s Ricky. Multifans have also pointed out that Victon’s Seungwoo who enlisted in July will also be joining them in the band. Taemin will also be featured in the military’s magazine for which they interviewed him. In the snippet that was released, the ‘Advice’ singer talked about further developing his musical skills and missing Shawols.
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Taemin talks about missing Shawols
On September 16, MMA (Military Manpower Administration of South Korea) dropped a snippet of Taemin’s interview that will be featured in the Military of Manpower Administration Magazine. Onew, Key and Minho were also featured in the magazine. And photos were released while Taemin is smiling at Minho’s magazine as he holds the other members’ editions too. He also mentioned that for his application for the military band, he sang Big Mama’s ‘Resignation’.
While he has not participated in any event, he is preparing by playing the piano and practicing the national anthem, and the US-South Korea alliance song ‘We Go Together’. He confessed that he got his energy from the cafeteria food. As for his first vacation, Taemin shared that he would like to see his family and his pet and that he misses his fans. MMA also shared Taemin’s message to all those who are yet to enlist, “To me, serving in the military is a time of being able to look back at myself and grow...and I am rooting for all those who will be enlisting soon. Fighting!”
Shawols have also been touched that Taemin is constantly thinking about them while in the military. For the first anniversary of his third K-pop album ‘Never Gonna Dance Again’, he surprised fans with a gift. On his behalf, SM announced that Taemin had made a personalized hand-shaped jewelry holder for Shawols. He had also pre-recorded his part for the SuperM concert that took place in August.
'Our handsome soldier'
Fans have missed Taemin since he enlisted and so trended his name on Twitter on the release of the photos. They made tweets like, “NOT TAEMIN SMILING WHILE LOOKING AT HIS HYUNGS PAST ARMY MAGAZINE COVERS,” “Our handsome soldier,” and “My hourly soldier no 23 lee taemin reading the marine cops’ lance corporal choi minho’s interview for 2019 winter issue magazine while smiling tweet.”
NOT TAEMIN SMILING WHILE LOOKING AT HIS HYUNGS PAST ARMY MAGAZINE COVERS 😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/ypwy2SE9qp
— ✨우주✨ (@onewspace) September 16, 2021
my hourly soldier no 23 lee taemin reading the marine cops’ lance corporal choi minho’s interview for 2019 winter issue magazine while smiling tweet pic.twitter.com/VDuH4fPqKU
— taemin read minho’s interview on 2019 winter issue (@pawstaem) September 16, 2021