K-pop Star J-Hope Starts Mandatory Military Service In South Korea
J-Hope, a member of Grammy-nominated K-pop boy band BTS, began his mandatory military service in South Korea on 18th April, the second member of the group to do so.The singer kept a low profile as a van carrying him entered the venue for his military enlistment ceremony in the city of Wonju, some 87 kilometres (54 miles) away from Seoul, news agency Yonhap reported.”I’ll be back later,” the singer whose real name is Jung Ho-seok said in a post on fan platform Weverse, alongside a picture of his shaved head. More than 10,000 comments from fans wished his safe return after completing his military duties.All able-bodied men in South Korea between the ages of 18 and 28 must serve in the military for 18 to 21 months. Some lawmakers floated the idea of granting the hit group an exemption from mandatory military service to allow them to continue to perform instead. However, the band’s agency last year said that all members planned to complete military duty by 2025.
