A survey result shows that more than half of the public support BTS being allowed an alternative to, but not exemption from military service.
A survey was commissioned by Media Tribune and conducted by Realmeter on 2,000 men and women over the age of 18 across Korea within the past 3 to 6 days on whether they agreed to BTS being allowed alternative military service. The result shows that 67.5% agreed, 31.3% disagreed, and 1.2% did not know.
As for the survey participants who support BTS’s alternative military service, by gender, 66.2% are men, and women are 2.5% higher with 68.7%. By age, 56.4% are within the 18-29 age range, 59.4% are in their 30s, 69.9% are in their 40s, 70.9% are in their 50s and 74.1% are in their 60s.
By region, Jeju (91.9%) is the highest, followed by Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam (76.8%), Gwangju, Jeollanam-do (70.3%), Daejeon Sejong Chungcheong (70.2%), Seoul (66.3%), Incheon, Gyeonggi-do (64.7%), Daegu, Gyeongbuk (58.9%), and Gangwon (56.3%).
It is noteworthy that this is a result amid growing requests for the final decision regarding the military service of BTS, a world-famous boy group who made history as the first Korean act to win and perform at the Grammy Awards, American Music Awards, and Billboard Awards, three major music awards in the US.
In addition, 79.4% of the survey respondents said BTS would contribute more to the promotion of national prestige and cultural development if they were allowed alternative service.
When asked which sectors contribute to enhancing Korea’s status among sports, fine arts and pop culture, the survey showed that pop culture accounted for 45.7%, similar (26.7%), sports and fine arts (25.1%), and “I don’t know” (2.6%).
Unlike the semiconductor industry, sports, and pure art culture, when asked why alternative services in the field of popular culture and arts are not allowed, 66.4% answered, “because it is difficult to establish a clear standard of whether or not to allow”, and 13.1% answered, “It does not seem to contribute much to enhancing national prestige or raising its status.”
Meanwhile, while discussions over BTS’s military service exemption have recently been re-emerging in politics, Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup said at a plenary session of the National Assembly’s National Defense Committee on the 31st of last month, “We will carefully decide the BTS issue while considering national interests on various levels, but we will decide as soon as possible.”
In response, the Ministry of National Defense said, “The Ministry of National Defense will not conduct a poll on the BTS military service issue,” adding, “We will not make a decision on the BTS military service issue only based on the results of the poll.”
This poll was conducted by the Media Tribune and Realmeter completed responses from 2,000 people aged 18 and over nationwide in four days from September 3 to 6, showing a response rate of 15.8%. It was conducted in the form of a telephone interview (RDD). Statistical correction was made by weighting by gender, age group, and region based on the resident registration demographics of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security at the end of August 2022, and the sampling error was ±2.2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level. For more detailed information about the poll, please refer to the Media Tribune website.
Source: daum
