K-pop star Jin from BTS complets mandatory military service
K-pop star hugs 1,000 fans after completing mandatory military service
K-pop boy
band BTS member Jin waves after being discharged from his mandatory
military service outside a military base in Yeoncheon, South Korea on
June 12, 2024. Jun Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images
Seoul, South KoreaCNN
—
The oldest member of the K-pop phenomenon BTS is spending
his day hugging 1,000 fans, after finishing his mandatory military
service in South Korea on Wednesday.
Jin made his first public appearance at Seoul’s Jamsil
Sports Complex this afternoon, where he is performing and meeting fans.
At the event, 1,000 lucky fans who won in a raffle will
receive hugs from the 31-year-old, while a total of 4,000 select fans
will be able to attend his performance at the end of the day.
Some BTS superfans – known as ARMY (Adorable Representative
MC for Youth) – have journeyed from overseas to attend the BTS Festa
event.
The country’s compulsory military service, which requires
almost all able-bodied men to serve for 18 months by the time they are
28 years old, enforced a hiatus on one of the world’s most successful
contemporary pop acts. The government passed a law in 2020 that allowed
major pop stars to defer until the age of 30. The other six members of
the septet are still serving.
Mim Cheenchanya from Thailand is one of the lucky fans who
will hug Jin – and told CNN she started crying tears of immense joy when
she learned she had won in the raffle.
“I wish to tell Jin if he comes to Thailand, can he hold a
concert for seven days, because I love BTS so much,” Cheenchanya said.
As Jin started giving out hugs in the afternoon, videos
began flooding social media from ecstatic fans, showing the star quickly
hugging each person as they walked across a purple stage in a line.
Many can be heard screaming, whooping, and crying.
Even those who can’t get hugs are happy to be there.
Holly Campbell, who had traveled from Melbourne, Australia,and
Ashley Stoudnour, from Florida, told CNN they wouldn’t have missed the
festival for anything. They had entered the hug raffle too, but no luck.
“Everybody here tried,” Campbell joked, wearing purple – the band’s
color – from her shiny boots to her lavender cap.
Purple has become ubiquitous with BTS since member V
described it as a symbol of the band’s long-lasting love and
relationship with their fans. Since then, the color has made appearances
in many of their live performances, merchandise and branded
collaborations.
“BTS themselves pour out so much love – they put love into
their music, into their personalities, their fans,” said Stoudnour.
Flying thousands of miles across the world to welcome Jin back was just a
way for the fans to “give them love back,” Stoudnor added – describing
himas the “comedian of the group.”
Fans of K-pop boy band BTS swap cards as they attend the event in Seoul on June 13, 2024.
Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
Another fan, Kim Yoon-jeong, said she had cried all night
after finding out she didn’t win a coveted seat in the stadium for Jin’s
performance, or a hug – but she was still excited to support him. She
showed CNN her artworks – digitally painted portraits of each BTS member
– and tiny stuffed dolls of them in her bag, including one member
dressed in a military uniform.
Michelle Pedraza, another fan who flew to Seoul from her
home in California and also missed out on winning a hug ticket, showed
off her purple-dyed hair for the event. “No hug, but all of the air that
he’s breathing, I’ll be breathing,” she joked, adding she’d probably be
crying and screaming once he took to the stage.
The festival was already packed in the morning, with various
activities and stalls set up – photo booths, bracelet-making, custom
pins, BTS sticker shops and more. Fans queued to enter, with some
enjoying snacks under the shade or using umbrellas to evade the boiling
heat.
BTS have become worldwide superstars since debuting in 2013,
earning No. 1 singles in more than 100 countries. They’ve racked up a
long list of accolades – numerous Billboard Music awards, Time
magazine’s Entertainer of the Year award in 2020, and multiple titles at
the 2021 American Music Awards – even becoming the first K-Pop act to
earn a Grammy nomination in 2021.
Beyond music, the group’s members are among the world’s most
bankable fashion icons – with what they wear on the red carpet and in
music videos closely watched.
In 2021, Louis Vuitton named the group brand ambassadors and
dressed them in complementary suits for the 64th Grammy Awards the next
year. Dior outfitted the band in custom stagewear for their 2019 tour.
Individual members have starred in various luxury fashion house
campaigns.
In the last few years, the hiatus that military service
would bring loomed large. Jin was the first in the group to enlist at
30. BTS is expected to reconvene as a group around 2025.