Writer Heo Ji-woong, who recently complained about unfairness in military service exemption issue, explains “I didn’t specify BTS”
Writer-broadcaster Heo Ji-woong, who recently criticized the military service exemption issue of celebrities, explained that he did not point at any specific person.
On September 13th, Heo Ji-woong released a long article on his Instagram, saying “I understand it. That’s too bad. I just published a new book so I only posted an excerpt from it”.
He emphasized, “I didn’t post it out of a sudden, but I have continuously posted several excerpts over the past few days. And I will continue to do the same for the time being”, adding “In the article, I didn’t specify anyone, neither BTS nor the President, and was only talking about the principles.”
Earlier on September 12th, Heo Ji-woong shared a part extracted from his recently published book “Minimum Neighborhood”. In the excerpt, he expressed his opinion on the military service exemption issue, saying “Whenever issues of a celebrity or a gold medalist getting exempted from military service arise, my thoughts become complicated” adding “Only those who have written off their original sins by achieving high profits, rankings, and medals, can be free from this punishment. It’s certainly not fair at all”.
Many people then argued that Heo Ji-woong was attacking the boy group BTS. It is because the discussion on BTS’s military service exemption is still on hold even though the enlistment of BTS’s eldest member Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin, 30 years old) is coming soon.
Heo Ji-woong explained, “The equity issue regarding military service exemption has been raised since a long time ago, but it has gradually become a natural thing enough to not be recognized as an absurd issue. This is what I wanted to point out in that post. The excerpt was even written long before the pending issue that you said appeared.”
He continued, “People from all directions kept getting startled by the article and insisted that I wrote it about some specific people they love. I want to cover up my heart that has been hurt but I’m frustrated because I can’t do anything.”
Lastly, he said, “I also have people I love. There are times when I think protecting them is more important than anything else. However, I think we should stay calm and think wider in those situations. I think this is enough to help you calm yourselves down as good fans of amazing singers. I’m rooting for everyone.”
Below is the full text of Heo Ji-woong’s Instagram post.
“I understand it. That’s too bad. I just published a new book so I only posted an excerpt from it. I didn’t post it out of a sudden, but I have continuously posted several excerpts over the past few days. And I will continue to do the same for the time being
In the article, I didn’t specify anyone, neither BTS nor the President, and was only talking about the principles.
The equity issue regarding military service exemption has been raised since a long time ago, but it has gradually become a natural thing enough to not be recognized as an absurd issue. This is what I wanted to point out in that post.
The excerpt was even written long before the pending issue that you said appeared. People from all directions kept getting startled by the article and insisted that I wrote it about some specific people they love. How should I deal with these people then?
I want to cover up my heart that has been hurt but I’m frustrated because I can’t do anything. I also have people I love. There are times when I think protecting them is more important than anything else. However, I think we should stay calm and think wider in those situations. I think this is enough to help you calm yourselves down as good fans of amazing singers. I’m rooting for everyone.”
Source: daum
