Recently, there has been significant attention on the news that the military event appearance of BTS J-Hope, who is currently serving in the military, was ultimately canceled in the final stage
At the time, the military suggested that J-Hope participate in the International Military Cooking Competition, but Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik instructed to suspend this, leading to the cancellation of J-Hope’s event appearance.
In relation to this, Minister of National Defense Shin stated during a recent meeting of the National Assembly’s Budget and Settlement Special Committee on Nov 7th, “In my view, BTS diligently fulfilling their military service obligations like other servicemen is a better and natural example for the public. Therefore, I instructed not to assign any other tasks to soldiers who entered the military after being celebrities from now on.“
Following Minister of National Defense Shin’s directive, there is now anticipation regarding whether there will be changes in the practice of celebrities serving in the military being assigned to national and military events. It has been common for celebrities who enlisted in the military to participate in various internal events. In the past, the system of “Celebrity Soldiers”, who could perform military duties as an extension of their entertainment activities, allowed the involvement of celebrity soldiers in events. However, since the abolition of this system in 2013, celebrities serving in roles such as military musicians have been participating in events.
However, the mobilization of soldiers with an entertainment background for events is not limited to roles such as military musicians. For those who were active as celebrities in society, even if they did not serve in positions related to military music, they were often mobilized for various events as part of special performance teams.
While there were advantages to such event assignments, such as increasing public interest and participation in military events due to the presence of celebrities, and the opportunity for celebrities serving in the military to engage in activities related to their entertainment careers, there were also criticisms. Some argued that allowing celebrities to participate in events unrelated to their military duties, while receiving vacation for such activities, amounted to “special treatment”.
There are differing opinions even among celebrities regarding event assignments. Some find it burdensome to be mobilized for events during their military service. The public’s perception and scrutiny can also be challenging. In groups with multiple members serving in the military at the same time, the burden is multiplied when several members are exposed to events.
With Minister of National Defense directly instructing not to assign entertainers serving in the military to tasks other than their military duties, attention is now focused on whether there will be changes in the practice of mobilizing celebrities for military events.
Source: Daum
