It is an undeniable fact that the soft power that influential Kpop artists like BTS bring to the political and social fields. That is also the reason why the government has repeatedly summoned BTS or asked the group's members to undertake national-related tasks to promote the country.
However, fans were really angry when they heard the news that even when the BTS members enlisted as civilians, the government did not give up on taking advantage of their fame. Recently, j-hope was reported to have been asked to be an MC for an international event even though he was performing his m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ service.
Fans expressed fierce opposition and in response to this people's anger, the minister of defense officially made the final decision:
During the years since Kpop artists have had great influence in the world, there have been many cases of Kpop artists serving in the m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ being asked to perform at events as idols. to promote. While the government believes that the appearance of idols after a period of m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ service will make fans happy, fans feel the opposite. They believe that their idol is being taken advantage of even after returning to being a civilian and enlisting in the army.
This case is similar to the recent controversy involving the m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ agency considering bringing j-hope to participate in the International Military Cooking Competition as a host. Military officials αѕѕessed that J-Hope's appearance with the reputation of a global star would make the event widely promoted. Revealing to the media, they said: "As it is international competition, We thought that appearance of world star BTS would be of great help to promote. We have been coordinating opinions with the agency with weight on j-hope's attendance. Competition, which marks 4th anniversary, was held last year under name of Golden Shovel Chef Award, in which cooking solďïệrs from each army solďïệrs compete for cooking skílls. This time, solďïệrs from other countries, including US and ̾s̾i̾n̾g̾a̾p̾o̾r̾e ̾, participated in competition to increase size of international competition in earnest."
According to another m̴i̴l̴i̴t̴a̴r̴y̴ source, the local m̴i̴l̴i̴t̴a̴r̴y̴ government has temporarily agreed to let j-hope participate without any special performance, and even made decisions about j-hope's outfit and makeup when attending this event. Relevant m̴i̴l̴i̴t̴a̴r̴y̴ authorities also discussed ways to promote international m̴i̴l̴i̴t̴a̴r̴y̴ cooking competitions with videos using BTS. In response to this news, fans were extremely angry and protested the request for j-hope to be the MC for this event because they thought that the m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ agency was taking advantage of him as well as BTS. .
In response to the wave of public opinion, People's Power Party legislator Lee Yong-ho asked a related question to Minister Shin - South kσrєα's Minister of National Defense. To this question, Minister Shin gave a confirmation answer: "Originally, a suggestion was made for a BTS member (j-hope) to host the event. In my view, BTS diligently fulfilling their m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ service obligations like other servicemen is a better and natural example for the public". He then also pointed out that although that was the original plan, he came to the final conclusion of not approving j-hope attending the event as a celebrity.
He added: "From now on, I have instructed not to αѕѕign any other tasks to solďïệrs who have entered the m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ after being celebrities”. Then, Congressman Lee was pleased with the Minister's decision: "I also think so. The enlistment of (BTS members) follows the principle that all young people in kσrєα must serve Military service is no exception, and it's a shame when celebrities are taken advantage of just because they serve in the m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷."
The minister's final statement on the above issue ended the controversy related to taking advantage of the reputation of j-hope and BTS to promote the event hosted by kσrєα. However, it only partially appeased fans' anger because this was not the only time BTS members were taken advantage of despite being on m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ duty:
- No one especially the SK goverment should be able to use them for publicity. It’s true, i’d rather they don’t participate in such activities
- I swear HYBE will be better at public policy than SK govt with how much diplomacy they have to do to ensure SK govt respects the basic dignity of BTS members WHILE THEY SERVE THEIR COUNTRY!
- Let them serve peacefully my God ... Keep mad gov you can't use my boys for your benefits
- Stop milking BTS for your own benefits challenge, starting from now. Go ahead SK gov
- Good for them. They shouldn't be used as celebrities for such events. It will just draw unwanted issues towards the members ,they don't need that kind of stress while serving.
- A good decision call ! He's a solďïệr now, let him fulfil his duty as one.
- Good. Now they need to make sure this continues
- if hobi want to do it, we'll always support their decision. but if he doesn't, please don't disturb their m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ service. respect them and let them serve peacefully. don't use them as celebrity only for your interest. we miss him so much but we'll be waiting patiently
- How very clever of the ministry of defense because we would have chewed them up and spit them out for using him (or any member for that matter) in that way
- is seems funny how they are using so many idols but they don't dare to touch the bts members
Meanwhile, The International Military Cooking Competition, now in its fourth edition, serves as a platform to identify and celebrate culinary talent among m̷i̷l̷i̷t̷a̷r̷y̷ personnel from South kσrєα, the United States, and ̾s̾i̾n̾g̾a̾p̾o̾r̾e ̾. This year's competition, held at the kσrєα Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation in Yangjae-dong, Seoul.
