HYBE stated, “BTS is having a hard time because of the military service issue… We hope the problem will be resolved at this National Assembly”
HYBE talked about the military service issue of BTS for the first time.
CCO (Chief Communication Officer) of HYBE – Lee Jin-hyung expressed his thoughts on the military enlistment of BTS members at the press conference for HYBE’s “THE CITY” project and BTS PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE concert, which was held at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on the morning of April 9th (local time).
On this day, CCO Lee Jin-hyung said, “We know how important the military service issue is in Korea. While briefly informing you on the enlistment of BTS members, some misunderstandings have occurred from the outside and people are really interested in how it is going”
He continued, “Our artists entrust the company with deciding on issues related to military service. Our artists have repeatedly said that they would respond to the call from the country and their thoughts remain unchanged until now”, adding, “The military service system began to change in 2020. There is something that works differently from what they often think, so they are still keeping up with the changes while communicating with the company”.
A revision to the Military Service Act that allows popular culture and art artists, including BTS, who have made great achievements to be transferred as “arts personnel” is currently pending in the National Assembly.
HYBE explained that they were having conversations with BTS members about the military service issue. BTS has left the decision to the company as it is watching the revision which is currently under discussion at the National Assembly.
CCO Lee Jin-hyung said, “Our company explained to the artists, ‘Since the pending revision was introduced, the legislative bill has been shared. At this point, we have to be careful in making decisions’. The members also maturely accepted it and they have left the decisions to our company”.
In particular, he said, “It’s true that our artists are having a little bit of a hard time because the military service system has changed over the past few years and the timing is unpredictable. They are having a hard time because it’s difficult for them to make plans. The company is closely monitoring the handling of the current amendments. We will do our best to reach a beneficial conclusion for our society and artists.”
BTS‘ military issue has become a global concern. He emphasized, “I hope it will be sorted out during this National Assembly. As the National Assembly is reorganized in the second half of the year, discussions will continue without any guarantees, and it’s true that such uncertainty poses difficulties. I hope we can reach a conclusion as soon as possible.”
CCO Lee Jin-hyung shared his thoughts, “I want to see how far BTS grows. I think BTS can grow even more in (musical and cultural) influence.”
He said confidently, “Music isn’t the Olympics. Winning Grammy isn’t a measure of performance and it doesn’t say everything. Actually, BTS didn’t win this time, so I think there is room for growth in that field as well. I think they can be an artist that has a lot of influence.”
He continued, “From a cool-headed point of view, as you can see from the results of the Grammy Awards, it’s true that artists’ influence in the U.S. market is large. However, I could feel that there is a long way to go towards voting because Grammy selects winners by voting.”
He concluded, “On the one hand, I think there is a market left for artists to expand in the global music market. I think there are a lot of fans to meet since there are still huge markets in South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.”
