'BTS Bill' to postpone K-pop stars' military enlistment
MANILA, Philippines — Tuesday's (December 1) most-talked about K-Pop buzz puts the spotlight on a contentious issue for many K-Pop fans and stars.
The South Korean parliament passed a bill on December 1 that would allow uber-popular K-pop stars to postpone their military enlistment until the age of 30.
Only two out of 270 voted against the legislation that is unofficially called the BTS Bill, named after one of South Korea's biggest boy bands, BTS.
Currently, South Korean males aged to 18 to 28 are called on to enlist for a two-year mandatory military service. South Korea ended its armed conflict with an armistice with North Korea on July 27, 1953.
Exemptions had been made for other personalities in the fields of classical music and sports but no pop star has been included in the list.
BTS' oldest member, Jin, 27, is reportedly preparing for his enlistment.
A story on Reuters cited a recent poll in November by Korean news outlet E-Today that showed some 53% of respondents agreed to give special treatment for BTS while the remaining 47% were against it.
The news comes at the heels of the seven-member boy group's recent feat, its top 1 spot at the US Billboard Top 100 with its single "Dynamite." The same single is nominated at the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making them the first K-pop group to be nominated in the prestigious music awards show.
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