Suga, rapper and songwriter in the global K-pop sensation BTS, is discharged from South Korea’s mandatory military service as of Saturday (June 21), marking the official return of all seven members from their enlistment duties.
The group’s representatives, BIG Hit, confirmed on Wednesday that Suga was nearing completion of his service duties after using up his remaining leave. His official discharge date is Saturday.
BIG Hit had said earlier that no events were planned for Suga’s release out of concern for overcrowding.
It is a momentous occasion for fans of BTS, known as BTS ARMY. The seven singers of the superstar K-pop band plan to reunite as a group sometime in 2025 now that they’ve finished their service.
Last week, BTS members RM and V were discharged from South Korea’s military after fulfilling their mandatory service. Jimin and Jung Kook were discharged a day later. All four were enlisted in December 2023.
Jin, the oldest BTS member, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope was discharged in October.
Six of the group’s seven members served in the army, while Suga fulfilled his duty as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service, due to a prior shoulder injury.
In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea.
The law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren’t subject to such privileges.
However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service until age 30 after South Korea’s National Assembly revised its Military Service Act, allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until 30.
There was heated public debate in 2022 over whether to offer special exemptions of mandatory military service for BTS’ members, until the group’s management agency announced in October 2022 that all seven members would fulfill their duties.
On Saturday, Suga wrote to BTS ARMY directly in a letter addressed to fans posted on Weverse, HYBE’s social media/fandom platform.
Noting that he’s missed his fans and that he’s been thinking about how he’d reconnect with them, Suga reflected on BTS’ two-year hiatus. “I think I had two years to think about myself,” he wrote, in part, saying he’d “been running forward, but this time has been an opportunity to look back on myself.”
“Dear ARMY, thank you for your patience and thank you very much. And I’m sorry for making you disappointed and worried about what happened last year. Above all, it was so upsetting that it hurt the fans’ hearts. I felt sorry for the members who must have felt heavy in their seats because of me,” wrote Suga, presumably in reference to an incident in 2024 in which he faced license suspension and fines for driving an electric scooter while intoxicated. At the time, Suga apologized to “everyone who was hurt by [his] careless and wrong actions,” and later said, “It’s all my fault. My carelessness is giving everyone who cares about me a hard time. I will try not to do anything wrong again and live with repentance.”
In his letter on Saturday, Suga wrote, “In the future, we will try our best to repay the love you have given us. I love you.”
Read Suga’s June 21 message to the BTS ARMY in its entirety, as translated in English:
“Hello, everyone. Nice to meet you. It’s a SUGA.
It’s been about two years. How have you all been.
It’s been a long time since I was called off today.
It’s a day I’ve been waiting for and it’s been a long time, so I had a lot of thoughts on how to say hello.
First of all, I wanted to say thank you to the fans who have been waiting for us. I really missed you.
I think I had two years to think about myself.
In particular, I wanted to take a step away from what I had been doing for a long time.
In the meantime, I have not been able to look back on myself because I have been running forward, but this time has been an opportunity to look back on myself.
Dear ARMY, thank you for your patience and thank you very much.
And I’m sorry for making you disappointed and worried about what happened last year.
Above all, it was so upsetting that it hurt the fans’ hearts.
I felt sorry for the members who must have felt heavy in their seats because of me.
In the future, we will try our best to repay the love you have given us.
I love you. Everyone, I’ll keep you posted from time to time.”