Last member of confined BTS, Suga ends military service in South Korea

Suga, one of the members of the BTS pop band, officially ends his mandatory military service on Saturday (21). Now the band’s seven members will be able to return to the stage after a gap started in 2022.

Since then, its members have been required to fulfill the mandatory military service imposed on all South Korean men under 30, due to tensions with North Korea.

Suga, who served as a social service agent (an alternative to military service), will be the last to complete his service, before the expected return of the band with all its active members.

“Above all, I wanted to sincerely thank my fans for waiting for me all this time,” he said in a message to his fans, known as “Army” on the social media platform. “I missed you so much,” he added.

Before members are required to comply with compulsory military service, the group generated more than 5.5 trillion South Korean Wons (about US $ 4 billion) per year on economic impact, according to the Korean Institute of Culture and Tourism.

Analysts expect its agency’s operating profit, Hybe, will increase next year – up to 71%, according to some estimates – partly due to the return of BTS to major tours.

Since completing the military service last week, the band leader, RM, appeared at the Art Basel Contemporary Art Fair in Switzerland as the new global ambassador of Samsung Art TV programming.

Another member of the group, V, was seen on the audience at a piano recital in Seoul alongside Park Chan-Wook, director of the movie “Oldboy”.

BTS was acclaimed as one of the best examples of South Korean soft power, even visiting the White House in 2022.

They spoke publicly about mental health and hate crimes against Asians and contributed $ 1 million to the Black Lives Matter cause in 2019, encouraging their fans to donate the same value.