As the second member of the popular South Korean boy band BTS, singer and dancer J-Hope has started his military service. The 29-year-old, whose real name is Jung Ho Seok, appeared on Tuesday with a short haircut at an army headquarters in the city of Wonju, about 90 kilometers east of Seoul, South Korean broadcasters reported. His bandmate Jin (31) had already started his military service in December.
Compulsory military service in South Korea is quite long, lasting about two years. According to reports, J-Hope will first complete a five-week basic training course at an army training camp. His agency announced on the Weverse fan community platform in early April that J-Hope would complete his military service. There will be no official event to start with. There were only about ten fans present when J-Hope arrived at the camp, national Yonhap news agency reported.
BTS are currently the most successful music formation in South Korean pop music – the so-called K-Pop. The seven-member boy band stormed the charts with hits like “Dynamite” and “Permission to Dance”. Last year they surprisingly announced that they were taking a break as a group and that the members wanted to focus on solo projects for the time being. BTS later denied rumors of a breakup.
Last October, the label Bighig Music announced that all seven members of BTS would do their compulsory military service. The other five are RM, Jimin, Jungkook, Suga, and V.