BTS Will Begin Mandatory South Korean Military Service, Plan To Reunite In 2025

After being granted a few years of extensions, the South Korean boy band BTS has announced that the members will be beginning their mandatory military service soon, and will be returning to the music scene as a full group again sometime “around 2025.”

The band has been on a hiatus since June while several members pursue solo projects, and they just performed their last performance before the military service this past Saturday in Busan. The band’s oldest member Jin, or Kim Soek-jin, will be the first to enlist.

BTS’ management company Big Hit said that Jin will enlist later this month once he has released and finished promotional duties for his latest solo single. As a globally recognized K-Pop group, BTS was allowed in 2019 to put off their military obligation until the age of 30 instead of the usual 28 for able-bodied men in the country.

It’s unclear what his commitments will be going forward, and South Korea’s Defense Minister has said that the military could be open to letting band members tour in some capacity while performing their service as well. Members will have to complete 18 months of military service.

Plans for when other members of the group will begin their service haven’t been released yet. The band’s youngest member, Jungkook, is 25.

All Big Hit has said is that the rest of the band have their own “individual plans” for completing their military service.

BTS first formed in 2010 and made its debut in 2013, and became the best-selling group in South Korean History in 2022.

They also had four number one hits in the U.S. in a row with their single releases “Savage Love,” “Life Goes On,” “Butter,” and “Permission To Dance.” The last time this was accomplished was Justin Timberlake in 2006, and shows how popular BTS has become not just at home but all over the world.