Among the BTS Members, J-Hope is the second person to join the mandatory military service in South Korea. Consisting of members including leader RM, Jin, Suga, J-hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook, they all came together to send off their member for the service, which requires men from 18 and 35 years old to enlist in the military for a period of 18-21 months.
On 13th December 2022, the eldest member of the group enlisted, shortly after releasing his solo collaboration song Astronaut with the British band, Coldplay. The song was like a parting gift for the fans & even charted for a significant time. Simultaneously, BTS’ J-Hope had been fairly active in putting out new music as a solo artist.
He released his solo album Jack in the Box on July 15 and even collaborated with singer Crush, a few months later for the track Rush Hour. Recently his international collaboration with rapper J. Cole, On the Street was released just last month, which again became a massive hit, making him the first member of BTS to earn a top-40 entry on the UK Singles Chart and also bringing many artists together on the same screen for the song challenge.
What Does it Mean For Other BTS Members?
While military enlistment notices often come out as a surprise, and it will be hard to predict who the next member will be which will join the service. However, looking at the post from BTS members today, leader RM seems to be the next probable person to enlist. Today he posted the group picture from when they went to bid J-Hope goodbye & in the captions he wrote, ‘See You Soon Brother.’
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Considering they are both born in the same year and have already released his solo album Indigo in December 2022. We could expect him to don the military uniform next. Recently, another member Jimin had his official solo debut with the album Face and the title track Like Crazy. It received immense global success & even charted at number 2 on Billboard 200.
Also, at the moment BTS’ Suga is preparing for his upcoming album D-Day, which follows his previous two mixtapes – Agust D & D-2. The album delves into the personal journey of SUGA as Agust D, offering an intimate portrayal of his life as an artist. He even put out a pre-release track People Pt 2, featuring IU.
With all the members putting out new music & having various schedules to promote their work, it is expected that by the end of the year, all the members will be enlisted. Even the youngest member Jungkook was seen flying off to the US on a schedule and was working with some producers for his upcoming music. This makes him and V the only members, who are yet to reveal their direction for the solo music.
After RM, it is likely that Suga will be joining the service as a social service agent instead of an active-duty soldier. It is due to his shoulder injury, for which he even got surgery last year. While the other members Jimin, V and Jungkook have ample time to join, they could apply for early enlistment together or as their solo activities are completed.
With the plan of coming back in the year 2025, it seems to be the crucial year for all the members to start the service & meet their fans again as a whole group by the given timeline.
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