Popular Korean idol group BTS at the 64th Grammy Awards ceremony held in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 3, 2022. From left to right: V, SUGA, JIN, JUNG KOOK, RM, JIMIN, J-HOPE.
- BTS’s label has announced that all seven members will fulfill their military service obligations in South Korea and enlist in order.
- BTS will be on hiatus until around 2025, but South Korea could suffer billions of dollars in losses related to tourism and consumer goods exports.
- The label plans to carry out solo activities in parallel with each member’s military service plan.
South Korea is expected to lose billions of dollars if members of the world-famous Korean idol group BTS fulfill their mandatory military service.
According to a 2018 study by the Hyundai Research Institute, reported by South Korea’s English-language daily The Korea Herald, BTS’ annual economic impact is estimated at $3.6 billion (approximately 5,396 million dollars). billion yen). This is the same amount as 26 medium-sized companies.
According to the survey, 1 in 13 tourists visiting South Korea in 2017 was inspired by BTS, and in 2018, 7% of foreign tourists, about 800,000, were inspired by BTS. said to have visited South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also reported that an estimated $1.1 billion worth of consumer goods such as clothing and cosmetics exported from South Korea in 2017 were related to BTS.
The Hyundai Research Institute estimated that BTS could generate nearly 42 trillion won ($43.8 billion) in revenue between 2014 and 2023 if they remain popular.
On October 17, 2022, BTS’s label, BIGHIT MUSIC, announced that all seven members would enlist in the South Korean military in order, and that although they would continue their “solo activities,” the group’s activities would be suspended until 2025. announced.
On June 14, 2022, in a video featuring BTS members, they announced their intention to stop group activities and instead pursue solo activities. However, a representative of BTS’ agency HYBE later told news site TMZ that there was a translation error in the announcement.
HYBE told TMZ, “Strictly speaking, BTS will not stop working as a group and will continue in various forms, taking time to explore their solo career.”
According to Fortune, on June 15, 2022, after the announcement of the suspension of group activities, the shares of HYBE, the management office, lost a quarter of its value compared to the previous day. The stock price fell to its lowest level in two years since the company was listed. Also, after the member’s enlistment announcement, it dropped 2.5%.
In South Korea, healthy men between the ages of 18 and 28 were required to serve in the military for two years. However, the country amended its conscription law in 2020 to allow BTS members to defer conscription until the age of 30. In the past, conscription exemptions and deferrals were only granted to those who were active in international competitions in the field of arts and culture, or in the Olympics in the case of athletes.
[Original text: South Korea’s move to force BTS to join the military will cause it to lose out on billions in lost tourism, merchandise, and cosmetics]
(Translation: Mayuko Oba Editing: Toshihiko Inoue)
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Source: BusinessInsider
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