BTS fans know that there will come a time when members of BTS will have to take a leave from the group and serve in the South Korean army. But it looks like it’s a worry that will be put off for a couple more years.
“I think the country sort of told me, ‘You’re doing this well, and we will give you a little bit more time,'” Jin says in a new interview with Rolling Stone. While he considers his military service an “important duty for our country,” he adds, “I feel that I will try to work as hard as I can and do the most I can until I am called.”
Being the oldest member, Jin will be first up to enter the service – and talks about the future of the group going on without him.
“I have no doubt that the other members will make a good decision,” he continues, “because, you know, this is not something that I can tell them what to do. If BTS does spend time as a six-piece, I’ll be sad, but I’ll be watching them on the internet and cheering them on.”
According to V, the group hasn’t really sat down and discussed details of their military service, but he hopes that “it’ll work out eventually.”
And Jimin still can’t imagine life outside the group. “I don’t think I’ve ever really thought of being not a part of this group. I can’t imagine what I would do on my own…” he said. “I would like to think that at the end, when I’m too old to dance, I would just like to sit onstage with the other members and sing and engage with the fans. I think that would be great, too. So I’d like to keep this going as long as I possibly can.”
Looking back on their beginning, Jimin reflects on how much closer they’ve become as a group.
“We were very different people that came together. We argued a lot in the beginning, of course, but I think now, because we have spent so much time together, I began to like even the things about the other members I used to hate,” Jimin shared elsewhere in the interview. “The time we spent together really made us close, like a family. No matter where I go, there is someplace that I can come back to. I’ve come to feel that way about our group.”
By South Korean law, all healthy men must serve in the military before the age of 28 – and must serve for at least 18 months. Jin and Suga are at that age. Other members might soon have to follow – J-Hope is 27; RM is 26; V is 25; Jimin is 25; and Jungkook is now 23.
BUT in December 2020, a law was passed where that might be extended to 30 for people in certain professions – including professional athletes and musicians – whose contributions are deemed particularly valuable to the country.
BTS fans can now breathe a sigh of relief because they’ll be going on as a seven-piece for a little bit longer. The group is actually gearing up to drop their second all-English single, “Butter” on May 21.
