idk I got into bangtan like 4 months ago (as of 04/2020) and now I'm learning korean and watching everything they've put up and I'm a sucker for everything the have to give.
since everybodyās talking about south koreaās mandatory military service because of BTS, now seems like a great time to say that forced conscription is always morally wrong, and 90% of the worldās imprisoned conscientious objectors are south korean men who refused to join the military. despite the UN, human rights groups, and the south korean general public saying a mandatory draft with no alternatives is unethical, the current far-right administration and their new incel president have said they will be making LESS exemptions in the futureĀ because of declining birth rates.Ā
the choices for south korean men are literally: join the military for 18 months, flee the country before theyāre age 24-ish (they donāt let men who havenāt served yet leave the country once theyāre around that age, because of the possibility of them fleeing), or go to prison for 3+ years, where theyāre given prison labor so itās like theyāre āservingā south korea anyway. the south korean government also keeps a public database of draft dodgers, assumedly so they can be publicly shamed for the rest of their lives (and it affects future employment, of course).
currently the only exemptions are for ācultural meritā (olympic athletes, asian game winners, classical musicians and dancers, etc, hence why people thought BTS would fit in this category because itās all about who brings prestige to south korea internationally, and BTS literally accounts for 1% of south koreaās entire annual GDP), mentally and physically disabled men, certain STEM programs where they can work as engineers instead of serving, firefighters, and some extreme examples likeĀ āthis guy is the only doctor in a small townā orĀ āthis guyās wife just died and thereās nobody else available to raise their young kidsā ā and itās a big open secret that the sons of wealthy businessmen and chaebols mysteriously always get exempted for one reason or another, of course.
the cultural merit exemption rule was written back in the 1960s, before kpop and kdramas and all that ever existed, so in the last decade or so, a lot of people have been calling for an expansion of who gets exempted and how that ruleās defined, while others say giving celebrities special treatment is unfair. i donāt know if i even have an opinion on this because iām so anti-military iām just like.. exempt every man, dissolve the military, fuck it all ā but:Ā in the past, enlisted celebrities like kpop idols and actors have faced such extreme levels of bullying, sexual harassment (including other soldiers taking pictures of them in the public showers to sell online), and more, to the extent that just a few months ago, shineeās taemin was transferred to a public service role because of how much the harassment and bullying he was facing was affecting his mental health.
the south korean military is literally known for its bullying, hazing, violent homophobia, corruption and favoritism with superior officers, high suicide rates, and more ā but i digress. fuck the military and fuck the south korean government :) not for BTS, but for every south korean man forced to serve a country that does not give a fuck about them