What it Feels Like When Your Favorite K-Pop Idol Goes Off to the Military

I know the K-Pop life isn't for everyone, but I thought I could provide some interesting insights to those unfamiliar. Also, it's the only topic that calls to me today. Why, you ask? Because today marks one month since SUGA of BTS (née Min Yoongi, and aka Agust D) started his mandatory service period.

Conscription in South Korea

Conscription is the law that makes military enlistment a compulsory duty for the citizens of a country, and there are currently 44 countries with active conscription laws in place. All men in South Korea between the ages of 18-28 must serve their country, except for a few specific reasons that might exempt them under some conditions.

On their 19th birthday, South Korean males undergo an impairment and disability evaluation to determine which type of service they will complete. Men who have a clean bill of health are recommended for active duty service as soldiers, which lasts 18 months in the Army or Marine Corps, 20 months in the Navy, and 21 months in the Air Force. For those deemed to have physical injuries or medical conditions that could hinder their ability to properly serve in active duty roles, they are assigned social service roles, which are to be completed for 21 months.

To exempt or not to exempt BTS

There was a lot of discussion about whether BTS members -- considering their unmeasurable contributions to South Korea's economy/image and even earning Order of Cultural Merit medals -- should be exempted from serving in the military. Although they had a wonderful relationship with the previous administration under President Moon Jaein (even serving as diplomatic envoys in 2021), no final decision was made to fully exempt them (though they were granted extensions), presumably due to fear of public discontent. Please note, athletes who win gold medals in the Olympics, classical musicians, and most recently even eSports/gamers have all qualified for exemptions.

Ultimately, while the country's politicians hotly debated on the matter for years across different administrations, the members of BTS decided to fulfill their duty and in October of 2022 they announced they would all enlist on their own personal timelines, aiming to return to their joint activities "around 2025." Prior to this announcement they had already stated that they would all work on solo projects (something that is very common in K-Pop and not at all a Beyonce vs. Destiny's Child or Justin Timberlake vs. N'Sync situation) to be able to explore their own musical colors and come back together stronger as a group post-enlistment.

BTS enlistment timeline

The first member to enlist was Jin, who is the oldest in the group and had already been granted two extensions. He enlisted on December 13th of 2022 as an active soldier, and is expected to be discharged in June of 2024. The second member to depart was j-hope, also as an active duty soldier, with his enlistment beginning on April 19th of 2023, and expected to end in October of 2024. And next was SUGA.

As I mentioned in my blog about being a K-Pop fan , SUGA is my favorite K-Pop idol. He unexpectedly became so as I got to know more about him. In K-Pop, the correct term for your favorite member is "bias." You can have more than one bias in a group, and if you like multiple K-Pop groups (meaning you're a "multistan"), you can have multiple biases across all the groups you follow. If you have one group that reigns supreme above the rest, then that group is your "ult" (for ultimate), and you can also have an ult bias.

SUGA is my ult bias. I listen to and regularly follow over 20 K-Pop groups, both boy groups and girl groups, and SUGA just holds a very special place in my heart. His life story is deeply touching, having gone through all kinds of hardship from birth. When he was still training to debut with BTS, he was doing deliveries on the side to make ends meet and be able to pay for his school. During one of his delivery assignments he got into a car accident while on his bike, and his shoulder ended up crushed under the wheel of the car. Out of fear he'd be cut from the group, he originally didn't share what had happened to him. He only said he had fallen down some stairs so they would take it easy on him for a few days, and then went back to his regularly scheduled, grueling practices.

He did intense choreography with the group for years with his injured shoulder, only receiving temporary relief from physical therapy and shots. In 2020 he finally underwent surgery to fix his shoulder and hopefully no longer live in chronic pain. Due to his shoulder injury, SUGA is not fit to serve as an active duty soldier, and he was assigned to carry out social work for 21 months. He enlisted on September 22nd 2023, and is scheduled to be discharged in June of 2025.

One month down, 20 to go.

I find a lot of similarities between SUGA and myself, and that's likely why he became a place of comfort for me. A few months after his surgery, I had my thyroidectomy due to thyroid cancer , and thinking about his recovery process helped me feel less alone.

He has voiced a lot of his personal mental health struggles in his solo music, which is very uncommon in K-Pop and in South Korea as a whole. Mental health conversations over there are still very taboo and fans of idol groups expect them to be perfect at all times and "just get it together." He has been adamant about humanizing idols and making mental health conversations more normalized. I have also found a lot of comfort in that.

I've been able to see him in concert three times (twice with BTS and once this year as he went on a solo world tour), and I'm very grateful that I had the chance to enjoy his music in person one last time before he enlisted.

I wonder what the next 20 months will be like. He will be enlisted for two of his birthdays, he will be 32 when he is discharged, and the rest of his members will likely enlist latest by June of 2024. Jin is scheduled to come back by then, so we won't be left "unsupervised" for too long...

K-Pop idols during enlistment

During the first five weeks of training, all military recruits submit their phones for holding and they don't have access to them at all during that time. After they graduate their training, they get their phones for a few hours each night to enjoy. It's ok for enlisted idols to post on their social media accounts every so often, but I have a feeling he will take this time to live his life as regular South Korean citizen Min Yoongi, and not SUGA of BTS. He might post something over the holidays, for his birthday, the BTS anniversary, etc., but I'm assuming that since he provided the fans with a ton of content over the past year and left some more banked, he's at ease with staying quiet for the majority of his service. I will miss his change of weather reports .

As I mentioned earlier, I like a lot of groups aside from BTS and I have more biases aside from SUGA, and it just so happens that many of them are currently enlisted as well. Jay B from GOT7, Kai from EXO, and Mino from WINNER are all currently serving as social workers as they too have sustained injuries or have conditions that prevented them from being active duty soldiers. Seungyoon from WINNER and Kihyun from Monsta X are biases who were cleared to serve as active duty soldiers, and so thankfully they will come back a bit faster than the rest. And aside from my biases, there are also members of groups whom I like a lot who are also enlisted. K-Pop fans with enlisted biases tend to joke about being military wives, and the humor and memes through the process makes it all easier to deal with.

What changes while idols are enlisted?

The K-Pop industry is a marketing machine that churns out content and music at a speed unlike any other music label can compare to in the West. Most active groups put out EPs every six months to remain relevant and present in the minds of fans for as long as possible. A group can remain active with a few members enlisted (depending on the group size). To have all of these biases gone means that content is not available, and that's the biggest change. There's a little bit of emptiness without all the new music that they would typically be working on or releasing now. Fortunately, I also follow a lot of groups who have not had to start sending off their members to the military, and so I can count on those to partially fill the void.

As the adult K-Pop fan I proudly tout that I am, I obviously have other fulfilling activities in my life that keep me busy and that make me happy. K-Pop is just one pocket that I am particularly enjoying, and don't see that enjoyment going away any time soon. I have a lot of friends in my age group whom are happily married, some even have kids, and they still thoroughly enjoy the holistic experience that K-Pop provides.

Is being a K-Pop fan really that different?

K-Pop fandom differs from Western ways quite a bit. While Western fans only really have concerts to attend, K-Pop fans host events year-long to gather and celebrate their favorite groups or artists around their birthdays, debut anniversaries, or other special occasions. The more you frequent these events, the more you'll see familiar faces in the room, and the more you build relationships. My K-Pop friends all checked in when SUGA enlisted, and I've done the same when their biases have had to go.

It's difficult to explain without sounding crazy to outsiders, but as the meme says, the girls who get it, get it.

All in all, I hope you've enjoyed this inside look at a K-Pop fan's life, especially those of us missing our enlisted biases.