BTS’s Jin trades military life for gruelling “hug event”

Time flies when you’re having fun, so I must have been having the time of my life since BTS member Jin joined the South Korean army. Having served his time in mandatory military service, he’s back in pop star mode again and kicked things off with an event that seemed more gruelling than anything his training as a soldier could have thrown at him.

It was announced earlier this month that Jin would be discharged from military service on 12 Jun, having been the first member of the group to enlist in December 2022. I think I’d like a bit of a rest after all that. Maybe a week. Or a month. Maybe the rest of the year. Surely there’s no rush to get back to work.

Perhaps it’s talk like that that’s held me back from becoming an international pop star, because Jin returned to duty immediately. He went from the army base straight to a livestream address to fans - still wearing his army uniform. And then the very next day he appeared at an event as part of the annual BTS Festa event, at which fans celebrate the day that BTS released their debut single in 2013.

A little public appearance seems fine. A quick hello, maybe a wave. But that’s not what happened. What happened was that Jin stood on stage at Seoul’s Jamsil Sports Complex and hugged 1000 fans.

The “hug event” was announced at the same time that Jin’s discharge date was revealed. Fans entered an online raffle to be in with a chance of being given the opportunity to share a “light hug” or handshake with Jin.

Now, obviously meet and greets are part and parcel of the pop star offering these days. But this wasn’t really one of those. It was a steady stream of 1000 fans from all over the world all expecting a hug. It seems like a punishing thing to put someone through. Especially on their first day back at work.

If you’re still on the fence about how weird this is, you might like to watch some of the video footage. A grinning Jin gives each fan about a second of his time before turning his attention to the next fan in line. It just looks like it would be exhausting for him and disappointing for the fans. Especially those who have spent money travelling across the world for that opportunity.

Everyone seemed quite happy in that video footage though. As far as I can tell, no one screamed, “What?! That’s it?!” and Jin didn’t collapse in a heap on the floor 300 people in demanding to be returned to a foxhole. The only controversy came when some fans attempted to kiss him, which others watching the livestream (yes, fans who missed out watched the whole thing unfold live) said made him look uncomfortable.

Weirdness aside though, this does seem to answer the question of whether or not BTS would be able to survive its members heading off to their mandatory military service. By staggering their entry, they’ve managed to maintain an almost unbroken level of public engagement, and it’s clear that the fans are clamouring to have them back.

By the time they all return to work next year - and have got all their hugging duties out of the way - the band will have been around for more than twelve years. That’s a long time for any boy band. It remains to be seen what shape their career takes as they fully get into their second decade.

Now, here are some other amusing music news stories from the last week…