[theqoo]BTS, MILITARY SERVICE UNCERTAINTY IS MAKING THINGS DIFFICULT" HYBE JOINS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY DEBATE

[Firestar]

20 hours ago, jeong jaehyuns boyfriend said:

from an international fan's point of view... this might sound ignorant of me but theres literally no point of them enlisting other than to satisfy some antiquated cultural formality that at the end of the day, wouldnt even make a difference. i dont think the korean army is gonna be any different or even cares whether or not these 7 kpop idols enlist or dont. 

Sure, but that's true of any person, no individual makes a difference to an army, but the system does matter. If you have mandatory conscription part of the way it works is saying "everyone has to do this, everyone sacrifices so everyone benefits" when you start saying "everyone sacrifices, unless they are rich or famous then they can get out of it" the system is undermined and starts to collapse. The optics of a bunch of rich men in great health and physical condition skipping out on serving so they can become even more rich is a tough one to sell when everyday people serve while in poor health, and sacrifice 2 years of earnings that they actually need. 

Basically the politicians are slow playing this as they gauge public reaction to see if having a big corporation in their debt (and a very popular group available to them for support) is worth the backlash from certain groups of voters (young men who have to serve, possibly mothers of men who have to serve, etc.).

Edited April 11, 2022 by Firestar

[Firestar]

1 hour ago, babyv004 said:

so they should change their law to not be mandatory and only enlist those who want or at most all celebs dont need to enlist if they dont want.

Whatever you want to hear it or not, the enlistment is mandatory so they should enlist

 

you guys also cannot compare them to athletes that get exempted bc of their gold medal like i already saw people do (This is not directed to you comment but to everyone bringing athletes exemption as a exemple)

The bigger thing on athlete exemptions is that you can only get one for winning (or medaling) in certain amateur events while representing Korea. Like Son didn't get an exemption for being a super-star in Europe and the most famous Korean athlete, if he hadn't helped the National team win gold for the nation at the Asian Games he would have had to serve. It's a clear distinction of purpose, if you do this thing for the nation's benefit, not your own, you can get exempted.