New Law Lets K-Pop Stars Defer Military Service

South Korean lawmakers have passed a bill to allow K-pop stars to postpone their mandatory military duties.

This means the K-pop superstars BTS – the biggest boy band in the world – will be allowed to defer their military service at the height of their career. The legislation highlights K-pop’s cultural and political clout in South Korea, whose economy and global reputation has been boosted by BTS’s chart-topping singles and sold-out performances.

Under a legislative amendment passed on Tuesday, the deferral is made available to pop artists who “contributed to raising the national status and dignity”.

A presidential decree will specify who will qualify, the National Assembly of South Korea said in a statement.

That will largely be a formality for the BTS. The bill was proposed in September with the group in mind after it became the first K-pop act to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with their hit song “Dynamite”.

BTS’s oldest member, Jin, turns 28 this week and would have had to join the military by the end of next year. Under the new law, he will have to serve by the end of 2022, when he turns 30.

Conscription is a hot-button issue in South Korea. While some lawmakers have cited BTS’s massive contribution to the economy as reason to exempt them from enlistment, some are wary that it would be unfair to other healthy young men who must serve.

Exemptions are only granted for Olympic medalists and classical musicians. K-pop fans have argued that the their idols, too, deserve the same privilege.

In a previous interview, South Korean culture critic Jung Duk-hyun told VICE that postponement could be an acceptable compromise.

“We can think about giving some benefits by putting off the service and assigning them to suitable positions considering their age and career,” Jung said. “This is a more realistic alternative for those artists."

South Korea is technically still at war with its northern neighbor, with infrequent conflicts along their shared border to that flare up from time to time. South Korean officials have also cited decades of falling birth rates in justifying their strict enforcement of mandatory service.

BTS’s Jin, for his part, has said he is willing to serve.

“When the country calls, we will gladly respond,” Jin said in a press conference in November.