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       Countdown Begins: All 7 BTS Members Are Now Doing Military Service

       The last two members, Jimin and Jungkook, began their 18-month military duty in South Korea on Tuesday. Some fans say they should have been exempt.

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       BTS fans gathering outside a military facility in Nonsan, South Korea, on Monday, Credit...Yonhap, via Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Jin Yu Young

       Reporting from Seoul

       Dec. 12, 2023, 3:20 a.m. ET

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       Fans of the K-pop band BTS have known for years that a day would come when its seven members would all be doing mandatory service in the South Korean military.

       That day arrived on Tuesday. For many BTS fans, who happen to call themselves Army, seeing their favorite musicians enter the armed forces was as painful as they expected it to be. Any potential reunion concert, once the members have all fulfilled their military duty, is at least a year and six months away.

       For those of you starting timers: That’s about 547 days, 13,128 hours or 47 million seconds.

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       Jin Yu Young reports on South Korea and other countries in Asia from the Seoul newsroom. She joined The Times in 2021. More about Jin Yu Young

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