Big Hit Ent. Firmly Denies Reports About a BTS Member Enlisting This Year

[LEAD]

During today's (October 21) parliamentary inspection, it has been said that one of the members of K-pop boy group BTS will be enlisting in the military this year.

Some argued that the special exemption of military service should also be given to popular culture artists just like Olympic medalists, while BTS' agency firmly denied the news.

Nam Joo-hyun reports.

[REPORT]

During a parliamentary inspection for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism earlier today, 

Ahn Min-suk of the Democratic Party said, "It seems like one of the BTS members is going to the military this year. It appears as though it has been decided to not give special military exemption to pop culture artists."

Ahn also stated it doesn't make sense for giving special treatment exclusively for those in the field of fine arts as the wall between fine arts and popular culture has broken down; expressing his opinion that topping Billboard charts is as great as winning gold medals at the Olympic Games when it comes to enhancing national prestige.

Culture Minister Park Yang-woo stated that they have discussed the issue for a long time, but the concerned parties have different opinions regarding the issue.

Park explained the Ministry of National Defense is of the opinion that all special treatment regarding military service should be reduced, while the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism believes it would be better if such treatment could be extended so as to better promote our culture and sports industries.

He also stated there are clear international/domestic competitions for the classical arts and sports, while there are no such clear distinctions for popular culture to standardize.

To this, BTS' management agency Big Hit Entertainment stated that the reports about a member's enlistment this year are not true.

▶ 군입대설 언급 'BTS 병역특례' 주장…빅히트 "입대 아냐"

(Video Editor: Park Ji-in, Moon Ji Hwan)

(SBS Star)