On April 12, one fan of BTS shared the lyrics of Agust D’s ‘What do you think?’ from his 2020 mixtape ‘D-2’ online.
In the lyrics, Agust D wrote:
Woo woo, yeah, money boasts are only cute to me now
Woo woo, dividing it only feels bad at your level
Woo woo, we’ll be sure to go to the military when it’s time, so
All the b**tards who tried to sell our name to freeload off us, s**t up
As exempting BTS members from mandatory military duty became a hot topic these days, the online post about the lyrics has also garnered attention.
During the recent press conference for the group’s Las Vegas concert, BTS’ oldest member JIN―who must enlist in the military before December of this year―said that he fully entrusted his agency HYBE with the issue.
JIN said, “I talked a lot about the issue with the company, and decided to entrust it to the company as much as possible. Therefore, I can say what the company said is what I said.”
HYBE’s chief communication director Lee Jin-hyung told media, “We are very careful about bringing this matter up as we know how important the military issue is in Korea.”
He added, “However, we hope the decision will be reached as soon as possible,” saying the unresolved issue is causing headaches for the members.
As all able-bodied South Korean men are subject to compulsory military service, the members of BTS have also continued to express their commitment to fulfill their obligation.
There is currently a revision bill pending at the National Assembly that would allow male celebrities to substitute their mandatory active-duty service with alternative programs.
The original military exemption law only applies to global award-winning athletes or classical musicians, in recognition of their role in promoting Korea’s image worldwide.
Proponents of the revision bill argues that BTS is well qualified to be exempted from military service, as the group is the most accomplished K-pop boy group in terms of global success.
Opponents argue that the revision could spark controversy for being unfair to ones in many other fields.
(Credit= BIGHIT MUSIC, GettyImagesKorea)
( Star)
