Jin: check. J Hope: check. And on Tuesday, RM and V: check.
That leaves only three members of the K-pop boy band BTS still doing their national service: Jimin, Jungkook and Suga. And when they too are discharged this month, their fans’ long wait will be over. BTS will be civilians again, and a vastly lucrative reunion can follow.
RM and V emerged from a base in Chuncheon, South Korea, on Wednesday in military fatigues. V, 29, carried flowers, while RM, 30, had a saxophone on which he gave a brief impromptu performance on one knee.
“There were tough and painful moments, of course,” RM said, as translated by The Korea Herald, “but during our service, I came to deeply appreciate the many people who have protected this country.”
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BTS’s record label, Big Hit Music, had pleaded with fans to stay home and not make a circus of the members’ discharges: “We kindly ask fans to send their warm welcome and support from their hearts.” But hundreds of screaming, camera-wielding, flag-waving fans showed up anyway.
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RM of BTS gave an impromptu saxophone performance after he and another member of the band, V, were discharged from South Korea’s military on Tuesday.Credit...Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Nearly all able-bodied young men in South Korea are required to serve a year and a half of military duty.
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