The Next Korean Celebrities To Serve MANDATORY MILITARY SERVICE
Fangirling is not easy when everything is going great with your bias South Korea’s Army will get your man to serve the country. And fangirls literally become military wives. I know many of you are now heart-broken. But duty comes first.
We have almost come to the end of 2022 and we are getting the news of many celebrity enlistments. While some are scheduled to enlist in a couple of weeks, some are gearing up to enlist at the dawn of next year. Let’s have a look at who is heading to serve the country and which fan girl is going to be a military wife.
The whole K-pop world, or should I say the global music industry, wanted to know what the future of BTS would be with upcoming military enlistment. It was also one of the most hotly debated subjects during the last presidential campaign. The law, however, was changed in favor of BTS back in 2020. The enlistment age limit of 28 was raised to 30. This is what the legislature had to say: "a pop culture artist who was recommended by the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism to have greatly enhanced the image of Korea both within the nation and throughout the world". This grace period, particularly for Jin, will end in 2022. And BIG HIT announced the big news just after the phenomenal show in Busan.
"BTS member Jin (Suk-Jin Kim) will apply for the cancellation of the postponement of his enlistment at the end of October 2022, and will follow the enlistment-related procedures of the Military Manpower Administration. The other members will also perform their military service sequentially according to their plans."
Even though the devoted army knew that they’d have to face this day sooner or later, when the news arrived, they were devastated. However, wishes flooded in from all over the world for a safe enlistment. Another sweet gesture was that the religious army got together to pray for the safety of the Bangtang boys. This is one of the sweetest gestures a fandom can do.
However, Jin has quite a schedule before pausing activities. We just saw him in "Running Man" last weekend. Last Friday, his single, co-written by Coldplay, was released. And on the same day, he performed the new single live on Coldplay’s stage in Argentina. Coldplay pianist Chris Martin spilt the tea. "About 6 months ago, one of their members called me and said, "I have to leave the band in December for two years and join the ARMY in Korea." Because that's the rules there. And he said that "I need a song to tell goodbyes to everybody for a little while." According to Chris, Jin will enlist in December.
Followed by Jin, we can expect all members of BTS to enlist soon except for Jungkook. BigHit has stated that members will focus on solo activities for the time being. So, the military era of BTS will start in 2023.
EXO has almost ended their military era, but the maknae line remains. Both 1994-born Kai and Sehun should enlist next year. Except for Baekhyun, all members are out of the military. And as we speak, the only remaining Chinese member, Lay, is in South Korea, and fans expect a comeback soon. If things turn out as the predictions of exo-ls, probably Sehun and Kai too will enlist at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Another well-known actor turned idol is GOT7 Jin-young. However, there’s quite a lot of work lined up for Jinyoung. He is working on a web series named "The Witch" and is a cast member of the television show "Off The Grid." Given everything going on and the fact that Jinyoung's birthday is in September, we can expect that he will enlist by the third quarter of 2023. However, it is the enlistment era for GOT7 as well. Leader Jay B was born in January, so his enlistment is unlikely to be postponed any further. We expect him to enlist, probably in the first half of 2023.
SM Entertainment's baby NCT will also have to head for military duty starting in 2023. NCT’s military era will be started by 1994-born Moon Tae-il, known mononymously as Taeil. Being the eldest among all the NCT members Taeil probably will enlist in the first or second quarter of the year. Neither the group nor the agency has stated anything about the group’s enlistment plans. We are pretty sure that NCTizens have to get ready for a send off.
As we focus on actors, Nam Joo Hyuk comes to mind first. Fans were expecting his enlistment this year. It was an extremely successful year for Nam Joo Hyuk as twenty five - twenty one gained immense popularity. And his third big screen appearance was marked last week with the movie "Remember," released last week. It has successfully screened to date. With all this going on, Sports Chosun reported that Nam Joo Hyuk will be enlisting in the military this coming December. In response to his agency, SOOP shared, "Although he does have to enlist in December, the exact date has not been fixed." At the moment, Nam Joo Hyuk is filming Disney+’s upcoming series "Vigilante." And the filing will go on until mid-November. So it is highly likely that he will enlist in December.
Next in line is Song Kang, who is just two months younger than Nam Joo Hyuk. It is still very early to predict his enlistment date, but we can expect him to enlist during the first quarter of 2023. Even though Song Kang is one of the most popular young actors in the industry, he has no massive portfolio. He rose to popularity by starring in Love Alarm, the first Korean series picked by Netflix. And 'Nevertheless' made him the owner of a huge fan-base. The Netflix series "Sweet Home," starring Song Kang, is in production. Apart from attending a few photo shoots, he doesn't have much on his plate. And there is nothing much lined up as well. So we can expect Song Kang to also enlist in the first quarter of 2023.
We have covered some of the most popular names in the industry that we are going to miss next year. However, I am pretty sure the loyal fans would count the days until the return of their beloved idols and actors. I wish all my fellow South Korean citizens, along with our celebrities, a safe and healthy military life.