BTS is treated unfairly, is it difficult to be exempt from military service?

According to Osen, BTS in particular and the Korean mass entertainment industry in general are suffering injustice in the matter of serving mandatory military service. Osen emphasized that in the land of kimchi, popular art, including idol groups, is still considered inferior to pure art and classical music.

According to the current law, popular culture artists are not exempt from military service. However, as the cultural and economic effects of popular culture have increased recently, some argue that popular artists are being discriminated against. The fairness in military service benefits needs to be more guaranteed.

Especially in the case of BTS, they proved their global position by setting a series of records in turn. The group continues to act as a "private diplomat" in international society through activities such as sharing, speaking at a recent meeting with US President Joe Biden. Therefore, the argument that BTS should be considered exempt from military service is gaining strength.

BTS's concert in Seoul before the Covid-19 pandemic is estimated to attract more than 180,000 spectators, including foreigners. 67% of foreign spectators filled the Pyeongchang Olympics stadium and created a value of nearly 1 trillion won. In addition, the Korean Institute of Culture and Tourism estimates the economic effect from BTS concerts after the Covid-19 pandemic will amount to 1,200 billion won per concert.

BTS is also said to have contributed a lot to enhancing the nation's image as pop culture and art artists through their achievements and activities. They gave 3 speeches at the UN General Assembly, won 6 times in a row at the Billboard Music Awards - one of the most famous music awards. They became the first Asian artist to win at the American Music Awards.

However, BTS is not recognized as contributing to "promoting national prestige" and "cultural development" under the Military Service Act. K-pop is gaining huge popularity across the globe. However, popular art is still considered inferior to pure art, such as classical music.

Take for example the case of Lim Yun Chan (18 years old, Korea National University of Arts). He is a pianist who has just won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Lim Yun Chan won the 16th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, taking place in Fort Worth, Texas, USA on June 18 (local time). He became the youngest ever winner of the competition. On June 21, The Korea Times reported that Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Park Bo Gyoon congratulated Lim Yun Chan.

Therefore, the public pays attention to the military service benefits that Lim Yun Chan will receive. The public asserted that Lim Yun Chan had benefited from before winning the championship. According to Hankyung, three years ago, Lim Yun Chan became an art worker after winning at the Tongyeong International Music Festival. Meaning, he was exempt from mandatory military service.

Under the military service law, arts and sports professionals who have contributed to the promotion of national prestige and cultural development can become arts and sports personnel and do not have to perform military service. Those designated as arts and sports staff will serve approximately 34 months in the field designated by the Armed Services Commissioner under the direction and supervision of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Another case is that violinist Yang In Mo - who won the Jean Sibelius International Violin Competition in May - was also exempted from military service to continue working as an art staff.

As can be seen, the discussion of the military service exemption for popular art and culture artists has been raised for a long time. In particular, the issue of BTS's military service has been discussed since 2018 but so far there has been no conclusion. Since then, a series of opinions have been outraged at the discrimination against popular culture.

Osen stressed now is the right time to revisit the military service exemption system for popular culture artists. Because the influence of popular culture, including the power of BTS, is expanding rapidly.

On June 20, Congressman Yoon Sang Hyun posted on his personal page, "BTS has announced the cessation of group activities after 9 years of operation. The issue of military service is the main reason. On June 21, I proposed a bill amending the Military Service Act to apply special military service equally to pop culture artists as in sports and artists, but no progress has been made after a year. For some reason, it is time for Congress to choose the greater national interest instead of evading the amendment of the conscription law."

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