(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with Jimin and Jungkook’s enlistment)
SEOUL, Dec. 12 (Yonhap) — Two more members of K-pop supergroup BTS began their mandatory military service Tuesday, ushering in a hiatus for all seven members.
Jimin and Jungkook entered the same military recruit training camp at the Army’s 5th Infantry Division in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul. The army unit is where their bandmate Jin is serving as an assistant drill instructor.
After receiving five weeks of basic training there, they will be assigned to active duty.
BTS members Jimin (L) and Jungkook show off their military cuts in this composite photo from Weverse. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
They were reportedly seen off at the camp by two other bandmates, Suga and J-Hope.
With the latest enlistment, all seven members of the group will be on hiatus to fulfill their military duty.
On Monday, RM and V went to a boot camp in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, to start their service.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for at least 18 months.
Placards cheering for two BTS members — Jimin and Jungkook — are hung along the street in front of the Army’s 5th Infantry Division’s boot camp in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul, on Dec. 12, 2023, ahead of their joint entry into the camp later in the day to fulfill their obligatory military service. (Yonhap)
The group and its agency, BigHit Music, were hoping the team would resume activities as a full group after the four — RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook — are discharged in June 2025.
Three older band members are already in service, with Jin, the oldest, being the first to join last December.
Jin and J-Hope are performing active duty, while Suga is serving as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service in the country.
A motorcade carrying two members of K-pop supergroup BTS — Jimin and Jungkook — enters the Army’s 5th Infantry Division’s boot camp in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometers north of Seoul, on Dec. 12, 2023, during their joint entry into the camp to fulfill their obligatory military service. (Yonhap)
“I think it will be a lot of support to be able to enlist with Jungkook. I will come back after doing a good job,” Jimin said in a livestream on Weverse, a K-pop fan community platform, on Monday.
He once again took to Weverse to bid his farewell to fans before heading to the camp Tuesday.
Jungkook also said his goodbye to fans on a Weverse livestream earlier in the day.
“I’ll complete basic training well and salute you all in a dignified manner. Goodbye,” he said. “I’ll come back stronger.”
BTS has said it has prepared various content for the group’s devoted fans who will be waiting for their return.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)
