SEOUL, Dec. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean men who refuse to fulfill their mandatory military service due to religious or personal beliefs will be allowed to serve three years of alternative duty at local correctional facilities starting next year, the defense ministry said Monday. By law, all able-bodied South Korean men must carry out [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will cut the slots for alternative military service by about 1,300 in the coming years in an effort to cope with the dwindling number of men required to serve in the military amid a shrinking population, officials said Thursday. By law, all able-bodied males in South Korea [...]
PARIS, Nov. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Globally acclaimed superstars BTS and other high-flying K-pop stars will not be exempted from mandatory military service under the government’s new guidelines on conscription waivers, the culture minister has said. Since early this year, a government task force has been working to revamp the guidelines to raise fairness in [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — G-Dragon, the leader of K-pop boy band BIGBANG, was discharged from the military Saturday, bracing himself for a return to show business. Meeting with media and fans in front of the Ground Operations Command in Yongin, south of Seoul, G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji-yong, thanked his fans [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The fate of K-pop superband BTS’ roaring global music career with the full seven-member lineup is up in the air as the South Korean government is in the final stage of revising the country’s controversial military duty exemption system. Jin, BTS’ eldest member whose legal name is Kim Seok-jin, [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — The military manpower agency pledged Monday to continue to seek measures to prevent attempts at evading mandatory military service by changing nationalities, after the top court’s recent ruling in favor of a Korean-American singer despite suspicion that he dodged his duty. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that it [...]
SEOUL, Jul. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — T.O.P of South Korean boy band BIGBANG was released Saturday from his alternative military service, which had turns and twists due to a marijuana conviction. BIGBANG’s main rapper, whose real name is Choi Seung-hyun, started his two-year mandatory military service as a conscripted police officer in February 2017. But [...]
SEOUL, May 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Ok Taecyeon, a member of K-pop boy band 2PM, completed his 20 months of military service Thursday, setting himself up for a return to show business. “I still can’t believe (I was discharged) after waking up to a morning bugle today. Maybe I could if I wake up to [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — Yoon Ji-sung, a member of the disbanded boy band Wanna One, is set to begin his mandatory 21-month military service Tuesday, his management agency said. The 28-year-old will work as an active-duty soldier after finishing four weeks of basic military training, according to LM Entertainment. The singer announced on [...]
SEOUL, Apr. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Two out of three South Korean men in their twenties consider male-only mandatory military service to be a form of gender discrimination. The Korean Women’s Development Institute (KWDI) conducted a survey last year on 3,000 men between 19 and 59 years of age, with 72.2 percent of the respondents [...]