
All 7 BTS members are now done with mandatory service
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 June 2025, 15:05
Suga, a rapper and songwriter in the global K-pop sensation BTS, has been discharged from South Korea's mandatory military service, marking the official return of all seven members from their enlistment duties.
The label confirmed that Suga completed his alternative service duties on Wednesday after using up his remaining leave. His official discharge date is Saturday.
BTS' management agency, Big Hit Entertainment, had said earlier that no events were planned for Suga's release out of concern for overcrowding.
It is a momentous occasion for fans of the K-pop group BTS. The seven singers of the popular K-pop band plan to reunite as a group sometime in 2025 now that they've finished their service.
Last week, BTS superstars RM and V were discharged from South Korea's military after fulfilling their mandatory service. Jimin and Jung Kook were discharged a day later. All four were enlisted in December 2023.
Six of the group's seven members served in the army, while Suga fulfilled his duty as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service.
Jin, the oldest BTS member, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope was discharged in October.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.
The law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren't subject to such privileges.
However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service until age 30 after South Korea's National Assembly revised its Military Service Act, allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until age 30.
There was heated public debate in 2022 over whether to offer special exemptions of mandatory military service for BTS members, until the group's management agency announced in October 2022 that all seven members would fulfill their duties.

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Nahar Net
11 hours ago
- Nahar Net
All 7 BTS members are now done with mandatory service
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 June 2025, 15:05 Suga, a rapper and songwriter in the global K-pop sensation BTS, has been discharged from South Korea's mandatory military service, marking the official return of all seven members from their enlistment duties. The label confirmed that Suga completed his alternative service duties on Wednesday after using up his remaining leave. His official discharge date is Saturday. BTS' management agency, Big Hit Entertainment, had said earlier that no events were planned for Suga's release out of concern for overcrowding. It is a momentous occasion for fans of the K-pop group BTS. The seven singers of the popular K-pop band plan to reunite as a group sometime in 2025 now that they've finished their service. Last week, BTS superstars RM and V were discharged from South Korea's military after fulfilling their mandatory service. Jimin and Jung Kook were discharged a day later. All four were enlisted in December 2023. Six of the group's seven members served in the army, while Suga fulfilled his duty as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service. Jin, the oldest BTS member, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope was discharged in October. In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea. The law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren't subject to such privileges. However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service until age 30 after South Korea's National Assembly revised its Military Service Act, allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until age 30. There was heated public debate in 2022 over whether to offer special exemptions of mandatory military service for BTS members, until the group's management agency announced in October 2022 that all seven members would fulfill their duties.


Nahar Net
11 hours ago
- Nahar Net
South Korea's last circus, Dongchoon, holds up as it marks centennial
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Nahar Net
3 days ago
- Nahar Net
Irish rapper in court on terror charge over Hezbollah flag
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 June 2025, 13:09 Hundreds of people gathered outside a London court Wednesday in a show of support for the provocative Irish rap group Kneecap as one of the singers appeared charged with a terror offense for allegedly promoting Lebanon's Hezbollah. Liam O'Hanna, 27, known by his stage name Mo Chara, was charged in May after being accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert in November. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf around his neck, and black sunglasses. Shouts of "Free Palestine" rang out among the crowd outside, as well as from people who were inside the court building. The Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah and the Palestinian militant group Hamas are banned in the UK, and it is an offense to show support for them. Kneecap, which has recently grabbed headlines for statements denouncing the war in Gaza and against Israel, has denied the charge. "We deny this 'offense' and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction," the Belfast band wrote on X last month. The raucous punk-rap group has said the video that led to the charge was taken out of context. O'Hanna told London's Wide Awake Festival in May that the charge was an attempt to "silence us" after several of their performances were canceled. A performance in Scotland was pulled over safety concerns, various shows in Germany were axed, and UK government ministers had suggested the organizers of the upcoming Glastonbury festival should reconsider their appearance. Daring provocateurs to their fans, dangerous extremists to their detractors, the group's members rap in the Irish language as well as English. Formed in 2017, the group is no stranger to controversy. Their lyrics are filled with references to drugs, they have repeatedly clashed with the UK's previous Conservative government and have vocally opposed British rule in Northern Ireland. Last year, the group was catapulted to international fame by a semi-fictional film based on them that scooped multiple awards including at the Sundance festival. - 'Unfazed' - O'Hanna, Liam Og O Hannaidh in Gaelic, was charged last month after London's Metropolitan Police investigated a video from the festival in Kentish Town, north London, in November 2024. He is accused of displaying a flag "in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organization," police said. One of the supporters outside the court on Wednesday, who gave her name as Sadia, denounced the charge as "ridiculous". "Kneecap actually represent every one of us. They speak for us, you know, because everything they feel, every injustice that they feel, we feel," she told AFP. The group however apologized this year after a 2023 video emerged appearing to show one singer calling for the death of British Conservative MPs. Rich Peppiatt, who directed the award-winning semi-autobiographical film about Kneecap, told AFP this week that the group was "unfazed" by the legal charge and controversies. "Even through all the controversy at the moment, they just shrug their shoulders and get on with it," Peppiatt said. "They've always been controversial at a local level, and they've always bounced back from it," he added. In its statement following the charge, the group said: "14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us." "We are not the story. Genocide is," it added. Israel has repeatedly denied that it is committing genocide in its offensive in Gaza, which it says aims to wipe out Hamas. Prominent British musicians and groups including Paul Weller, Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Pulp and Primal Scream have defended the group and denounced a "concerted attempt to censor and de-platform Kneecap".