[NB] Hybe's statement urging National Assembly to make decision on BTS service exemption rustles feathers

[Youahaen]

 

Hybe's statement urging National Assembly to make decision on BTS service exemption rustles feathers

 

Article: Hybe, "BTS is struggling too"... urges National Assembly to make decision regarding military service

Source: YTN via Naver

1. [+1,851, -493] They claim to be having a hard time to make decisions regarding scheduling their next plans because of their military service? They said so with their own mouths that serving is their obligation. Shouldn't they be scheduling their next plans with the obligation of service scheduled in as well?

2. [+1,157, -148] It bothers me that they're using the expression "struggling". Serving is an obligation, and I'd understand if they were granted exemptions for various circumstances... but struggling? I have sent my own son into service who is currently standing guard all night, sleeping in two hour intervals. The country is watching your every word and I suggest you be more cautious about your choice of language.

3. [+779, -107] Isn't it kind of funny that granting them exemptions is being considered at all just for being famous? I think this will cause them to be the butt of jokes internationally. I say we take this opportunity to cut back on the perks that already exist as it is.

4. [+694, -77] Why would BTS be struggling? Any South Korean man is under an obligation to serve his country. Shouldn't they be living life with the understanding that they, too, will have to serve at some point? Did they only become singers to be granted exemptions someday? No, right? So why are they "struggling" with whether they will have to serve or not? When they know they should have to serve anyway?

5. [+741, -204] And what in the load of bull is this? There are orphans, the disabled with no fingers who are being dragged into service... but just because these guys 'brought honor to our country', they should be exempted? Not at all. Enlist them immediately.

6. [+242, -11] I don't know whose idea it was to put this statement out in the media... whether it was really the agency or a media outlet... but I think they're going to lose a lot of support with this stance. "Struggling"?! Do not talk down of the efforts and sacrifices of our soldiers like this! I understand that BTS has brought honor to our country... but it's because of your fellow soldiers who enlisted, who protected our country, that you were able to come this far with your own careers. The soldiers who protect our country and our lives are the ones who are bringing true honor to our country, and we are a hundred, thousand times more in debt to them than ever. I feel this deep in my heart, especially after seeing what's going on in Ukraine.

7. [+237, -8] If a group of men with both honor and wealth are "struggling" because of the decision to serve or not... then what about all the men who were born into average lives, who are being dragged into service dead or alive? 

8. [+217, -6] Every young man's life is a precious one, whether they are popular worldwide or not. They have all quietly served and completed their duty to our country.

9. [+151, -7] How much better would it have been for BTS if they had just said, "We will serve no matter what, regardless of what happens with the changes to the military service law. Any Korean man should fulfill his obligation to serve." At this point, it just feels like they're waiting for the National Assembly to say they don't have to serve;; In the time that they're waiting, they can just enlist as a group and come back in no time... (I'm not a hater, I may not be a BTS fan but I do think positively of them, this is just my opinion)

10. [+135, -6] It's not like serving is a death sentence. Service has been cut down to 18 months. Why not just serve one by one on rotation and have the other members be promoting other stuff? Other groups have done the same thing, and I'm sure BTS fans will be all the more prouder for it. They have seven members, and it's not like the group is reliant on one member to carry them all. There really is no need to worry about hiatuses~

11. [+114, -11] After all that talk about how they were planning to serve, it seems they were counting on being granted exemptions all along ㅎ since when were exemptions granted based on wealth and honor? Shut your mouths and just go serve.

12. [+101, -6] "The BTS members are also struggling with an unclear future and have urged the National Assembly to make haste with their decision" ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ unclear future?? They've made all that much money, bought those expensive apartments and buildings, and they're "struggling" with an unclear future... It really makes me angry that they would even say that in times like this. The majority of the young men serving right now are facing even more unclear futures than BTS but are still completing their duties to our country. It's amazing... their statement is basically saying they're expecting their country to exempt them while they get away with it with minimal hate ㅋㅋㅋ

 

Source: Sojang via YouTube

1. [+274] GD served too... he gave out autographs to all of the new soldiers with a smile, no matter how tired he was. Psy served, EXO served, SuJu, Big Bang, all of the second generation legends did... It makes no sense that you're granted exemptions just for ranking #1 in America. Is Asia a joke to you?

2. [+220] I don't think we should set a bad precedent. There will, most definitely, be idols in the future who will abuse this precedent for the wrong reasons. There may be someone even worse than Yoo Seung Joon. There is a reason the military made an example of Yoo Seung Joon the way they did, to prevent the creation of a bad precedent like this. Everyone is required to serve whether you're an idol or a non-celebrity. As a South Korean citizen, it is your duty. Hybe needs to submit to reality and step back. What do they expect to gain from making requests like this to the National Assembly? It ruins what is fair. If you don't want to serve, change your nationality.

3. [+166] It is a duty to our country. I thank all of the men who are fulfilling their duty for our country.

4. [+244] Athletes enter competitions representing our country, but BTS performs abroad for their own personal honor. Why should they be granted exemptions? And they sing English songs abroad, not Korean songs. They've thrown away Korea a long time ago.

5. [+319] I really love BTS and am really grateful for all of the honor they've brought our country... but being honest, this career is for their personal gain, and they may be making lots of money, but it's not like any of that goes to the rest of us. It's the BTS members themselves who are making millions. I'm grateful to them, I am, but they've already said so themselves that they're going to serve.. so just keep it clean and go serve. As a fan, I just don't want them to create a blip on their career by choosing not to ㅠㅠㅠ

6. [+246] SuJu was #1 in Thailand or Vietnam for 54 weeks with 'Sorry Sorry' and still served
- [+62] 121 weeks in Taiwan!

7. [+103] Nowadays, idols who are older or have more experience are doing just fine in the industry, even though they obviously may not be enjoying as much popularity as their peak. As long as your fame isn't a bubble and you have the skills to back yourself up, plenty of idols have enjoyed more success after their service hiatus. The fact that BTS is trying to avoid service like this makes me think that they think their fame is a bubble and they're greedy to make as much as they can. All of their seniors who didn't even have YouTUbe or SNS to rely on still took the time to serve even if they were granted exemptions. The more Hybe acts like this, the more they fail to realize that they're really only hurting themselves. 

8. [+458] If military exemptions are going to be granted based on how much fame you brought Korea, then why aren't all of the cast of 'Squid Game' or 'Parasite' being granted exemptions? It's ridiculous that exemptions are being considered for how popular you are in America. Why not consider fame in the rest of Asia like SEA? Plenty of senior groups have earned widespread popularity in Asian countries and brought much honor to Korea. But Big Bang still served, EXO is still serving, SuJu took 10 years for all of their members to finish service. Isn't it because of their service that BTS had an easier time getting to where they are now? You would think they created the K-Pop market all by themselves with the way they're acting...

9. [+72] Our country is extremely sensitive to military service issues;;; if they don't serve, they may not have a career here ever again like a certain someone

10. [+69] They're just going to get more hate if they don't serve now. Must Hybe try to keep them back...? Other actors and idols have served, does Hybe really need to take it this far?

-

source: netizenbuzz

[Jollux]

Bang Si-hyuk is so desperate of losing the golden gooses. 

 

Not before he finds the next BTS, until then just keep pumping groups, maybe the armies won't see the difference.

[angy]

We don't need another round of butter and PtD, they ain't special 

[jeong jaehyuns boyfriend]

not the irony of bts fans being called "army"

[MissBlack]

HYBE SHUT THE FK UP!

Edited April 11, 2022 by MissBlack

[UMJI MOODS]

Hybe is not too bright. 18 months is not eternity. Have them preprepare 6 mvs and put one out every 3 months. Simple. 

[Jollux]

39 minutes ago, UMJI MOODS said:

Hybe is not too bright. 18 months is not eternity. Have them preprepare 6 mvs and put one out every 3 months. Simple. 

Last year Hybe made a billion dollars in revenue and a lot of that was driven by BTS directly or indirectly. Even if they send some of the least popular members first, they would still be a hit to their revenue.

[Yukihime]

HYBE's decisions making is just.... 

They seriously need to get down from the clouds.

 

And I'm sorry but the membres are guilty too, stop the bulls*it with the "they don't have a choice but to follow" we all know it's not true.

[krystalized]

ofc it comes down to money... IMO. they should just serve. the members themselves aren't against that either i think?

[drakan]

15 minutes ago, krystalized said:

ofc it comes down to money... IMO. they should just serve. the members themselves aren't against that either i think?

maybe initially, but it's obvious now that they all want the exemption.

[Era]

If the don't serve means they only cared about money! All mens in korea are struggling too,but they choose to go because they have obligations in their country. 

[starsocks]

compromise: they should be exempted from not being allowed to work through the release of pre-prepared content while they’re serving, or be able to release demonetised content as is already legal but without the stigma

that way they’ll be bringing “honour” to the country but it won’t just be to fill hybe’s pockets, other companies won’t exploit it, and they’ll still serve

[jay94]

I'm not Korean and I know they shouldn't have mentioned "struggling" in the statement. They either have an anti working for them or lost their minds because of greed. I guess they expected new groups to be more famous and make more money than they are making. I hope BTS image won't be hurt in the process. 

As for Jin's words at the press conference, he should have said "I am ready to serve" before implying that "he leaves everything to Hybe" because it leaves his words open for interpretation. Seeing how much drama surrounds it, I hope BTS enlist at the end of the year and we get an official statement from Hybe/government about BTS before this month ends.

[felidae]

So if there's no "national assembly" decisions yet, the members can't enlist by themselves? I'm purely asking, because now it seems they don't want to but if they're ordered to they're willing to but would prefer if they're ordered not to.

Not that it matters to me, I'm no Korean but they brought the country's name positively so.

[avarice]

lol honestly hybe kinda shot themselves in the foot with all the past declarations that they would definitely enlist, tinfoil hat but i think they were expecting the administration to give them an exemption on its own accord bc of all the money they're raking in. it looks like the govt knows that it would piss the general public off though so i don't think that's very likely to happen. so now they have to lobby for it.. idk you definitely get the sense they didn't plan for them going at all 

[Guest]

dont be shy, give them the exemption

 

[Angel_Nessa]

. [+274] GD served too... he gave out autographs to all of the new soldiers with a smile, no matter how tired he was. Psy served, EXO served, SuJu, Big Bang, all of the second generation legends did... It makes no sense that you're granted exemptions just for ranking #1 in America. Is Asia a joke to you?

^ At the time they enlisted, all these groups were very successful in Asia, so it would not be fair. 

Hybe is desasperate cause they know big changes in career, popularity, contracts renew can happen while the members are in the army. Big Bang is a big example of it, who would have predicted what would happen to the group by the time they enlisted? Rain, Psy and Se7en had big scandals while in the army. 

 

[Angel_Nessa]

5 hours ago, felidae said:

So if there's no "national assembly" decisions yet, the members can't enlist by themselves? I'm purely asking, because now it seems they don't want to but if they're ordered to they're willing to but would prefer if they're ordered not to.

Not that it matters to me, I'm no Korean but they brought the country's name positively so.

 

the members must enlist soon, especially the oldest ones. In past interviews, BTS members said they would enlist, I don't know if they changed their mind about it or if it's Hybe is looking for an exemption for cause they are famous in America/worldwide and once they enlisted, Hybe will lose a lot of money since they weren't able to produce a 2nd BTS yet. 

Some years ago, groups like TVXQ, Big Bang, Super Junior and many actors have leaded the Hallyu Wave which was responsible to promote Korean culture to the international marketing, especially the Asian market. They paved the way for this new generation, they introduced KPOP and Korean dramas to the world however all of them needed to enlist. 

 

[Guest]

The truth is the government doesn't want any other group to get an exemption because the public would flip at boy group members not serving - and you know if BTS gets an exemption, other companies will push hard for their future groups to get exempted somehow. Anyone who claims that this new law will benefit younger groups and people should support it is delusional. This is pure politics and optics. The problem is the government needs to thus find a criteria that will only apply to BTS and no one else, ever, and that is beyond what the 2nd gen and earlier 3rd gen groups did. So, the Grammy. It would be incredible if any boy group won it, let alone more than one. They can spin it as the idol equivalent of winning gold at the Olympics.

But there's no Grammy now and Jin will be 30 in December. They're back at square one. 

Edited April 11, 2022 by elseelseelse2

[felidae]

13 minutes ago, elseelseelse2 said:

The truth is the government doesn't want any other group to get an exemption because the public would flip at boy group members not serving - and you know if BTS gets an exemption, other companies will push hard for their future groups to get exempted somehow. Anyone who claims that this new law will benefit younger groups and people should support it is delusional. This is pure politics and optics. The problem is the government needs to thus find a criteria that will only apply to BTS and no one else, ever, and that is beyond what the 2nd gen and earlier 3rd gen groups did. So, the Grammy. It would be incredible if any boy group won it, let alone more than one. They can spin it as the idol equivalent of winning gold at the Olympics.

But there's no Grammy now and Jin will be 30 in December. They're back at square one. 

Wait it does make sense about the grammy. Twt army should stop acting everyone is against oppa and really read "the opposition" argument.

 

20 minutes ago, Angel_Nessa said:

 

the members must enlist soon, especially the oldest ones. In past interviews, BTS members said they would enlist, I don't know if they changed their mind about it or if it's Hybe is looking for an exemption for cause they are famous in America/worldwide and once they enlisted, Hybe will lose a lot of money since they weren't able to produce a 2nd BTS yet. 

Some years ago, groups like TVXQ, Big Bang, Super Junior and many actors have leaded the Hallyu Wave which was responsible to promote Korean culture to the international marketing, especially the Asian market. They paved the way for this new generation, they introduced KPOP and Korean dramas to the world however all of them needed to enlist. 

 

Pretty sure if it's only one or three members, the group will be safe. Their fans are massive. Hybe shouldn't worry.

[Firestar]

6 hours ago, felidae said:

So if there's no "national assembly" decisions yet, the members can't enlist by themselves? I'm purely asking, because now it seems they don't want to but if they're ordered to they're willing to but would prefer if they're ordered not to.

Not that it matters to me, I'm no Korean but they brought the country's name positively so.

They could enlist at any time they wanted.

What has happened is that they are pushing hard for a law change that will let them skip service, their oldest member would have already had to serve, but a past change applies to him (and others) letting them delay their last possible date by a few years, but that time is running out. Essentially the company is lobbying (ie giving tons of money to politicians for re-election) hard to get a new exemption for idols who "bring fame to Korea" so they don't have to serve, but there is pushback, because the only other similar exemptions are only for non-paid representation like winning Olympic medals or Gold at the Asian games, where you are doing something to the credit of the country without personal profit.

[Angel_Nessa]

54 minutes ago, elseelseelse2 said:

The truth is the government doesn't want any other group to get an exemption because the public would flip at boy group members not serving - and you know if BTS gets an exemption, other companies will push hard for their future groups to get exempted somehow. Anyone who claims that this new law will benefit younger groups and people should support it is delusional. This is pure politics and optics. The problem is the government needs to thus find a criteria that will only apply to BTS and no one else, ever, and that is beyond what the 2nd gen and earlier 3rd gen groups did. So, the Grammy. It would be incredible if any boy group won it, let alone more than one. They can spin it as the idol equivalent of winning gold at the Olympics.

But there's no Grammy now and Jin will be 30 in December. They're back at square one. 

Different from the Olympic Games in which the best ones truly win, the Grammy had already been accused of rigging, favoritism and racism more than once, so how can the Grammy be considered the same as the Olympic Games? 

now, if BTS got an exemption for promoting Korean culture worldwide, so what about the Hally Wave actors and boygroups which played an important role for the success of the new generation?

38 minutes ago, felidae said:

 

 

Pretty sure if it's only one or three members, the group will be safe. Their fans are massive. Hybe shouldn't worry.

all companies worry when their artists enlist. There are plenty of cases of artists who got into trouble once they were in the army. Psy had a scandal and needed to re-enlist. Seven went to army's prision for illegal visiting a massage parlor. Rain violated army's rules by drinking and visiting erotic massage parlors. GD was accused of using the time in the army to do a knee surgery and to recover. And not to mention artists who had scandals non-related to the enlistment, but their actions/behavior came to light while the artists were on-duty. 

[campfire]

I don’t agree with people being forced to join the army at all but it’s also not fair to give exemptions based on the fact that people are famous.

[drakan]

17 minutes ago, campfire said:

I don’t agree with people being forced to join the army at all but it’s also not fair to give exemptions based on the fact that people are famous.

well technically they're still in a war with North Korea...and you never know with Kim Jong Un...he might feel emboldened by Russia invading Ukraine and China looking to "reclaim" Taiwan sometime in the near future.

[babyv004]

before we would see a lot more people on their side but now more people here are calling out hybe and bts which just proofs that hybe just made a wrong move with this statment.

in fact this statement is a completely bs. it will be the butt of all jokes

in another article i already saw some knetz compare them to Steve Yoo case and that is not good