K-Pop Group BTS Won't Be Exempt From Military Service
In South Korea, there is compulsory military service for men. Some athletes and classical artists are exempt if they tour globally. But the government ruled members of BTS will have to enlist.
RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Even K-pop stars get treated the same as everyone else. In South Korea, there is compulsory military service for men, but some athletes and classical artists are exempt if they tour around the world. Recently, there've been calls for supergroups like BTS to get waivers, too. So the government considered it, but then there was all kinds of backlash. In the end, the culture minister said they will have to enlist even though he personally wished he could give BTS an exemption.
Copyright © 2019 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.