Exempting stars is like exempting rich boys whose daddies can pay off the government.  And this is actually worse because the stars aren’t paying off the government, so this is just a free favor to the stars.  Most of them don’t go off into the military til like the last possible moment anyway, or when they’re no longer in the spotlight so they announce it to get another 15 seconds of fame.

Is it true that athletes are exempted?

Whatever. It’s the law.
Celebrities should most definitely not be able to get out of it. That’s gay times like ten.

They better not pass this. I mean Oh Jinhwan is almost done with the military, he didn’t bitch about it...Minwoo’s enlisting soon without a complaint, Rain should just go now, he’s a sucky singer and actor anyways

yeah like HPDANM said, it’s just unfair.
Their fame should make them different from other korean citizens

Promoting Korea?  to who? Yeah...okay.

On another note, his fans are sooooo not gonna like him kissing a Black woman!  I can see the netizens going nuts and making themselves look worse to the world at large.

He might lose some fans over that one.  No. He will.

The head of KTO is on crack and he has no influence over how the Korean Government works so no cigar.

I want to see the reasonings behind the 32 people who voted that Hallyu stars should be exempt.

^don’t you know that males over 18 here in US are required to enlist in the Security something thingy, I forgot what it is called...like what they did in World War 2...so, if ever we will be in another war...a World War 3, we won’t be out of men...it’s not as severe as in Korea but there are just laws that no matter what we do, nobody can take them away because if you do its immorally wrong...and that’s what this guy doing in exempting celebrities…

“(more importantly for the head of Korean Tourism an increasing interest in foreigners to visit Korea)”

Why? I’m seriously asking because Korea right now does not like foreigners by the way they treat them.  Let’s be realstic, Korea isn’t exactly open minded place to visit esp for POCs.  If Naomie Harris were to promote the movie, Koreans would stone her to death.

edit: send his ass to military. it’ll do him good. benefits everyone too.

I think its highly unfair for Hallyu stars to be exempted. Especially Rain *BARFS. He should have gone when he started his career so he wouldnt torture us with his ogre like looks and elephant moaning songs.

Naturally i always thought that enlisting should be a choice instead of a demand.
for those say that how regardless if they are celebrities or stars or not ,then what about famous althletes. Well known korean athletes do not have to enlist . . is that fair then ?

If rain is an exception, then tvxq shinhwa and those people should be excused from ENLISTING.. but famous stars who have contributed to teh hallyu wave like kwon sang woo and JANG hyuk have already finished their duty. As of right now, law is still law. It doesnt matter if you are filthy rich or not, theres no excuse.

@ Jinny in a bottle

The 32 is the horny ones . . .

UNKNOWN:  No, it’s not fair that famous athletes are exempt from the military.  Like everyone else, regardless of status in society, they should go do what everyone else has to do.  It’s only fair.

I’m not korean n I do not approve too much of that military service thing given what an acquaintance told me about kids committing suicide because of it, the older grades r really intimidating...but once again it happens everywhere i presume!
however, as much as i “like” rain (i’m not too sure lately, i can’t stand his voice, go figure lol)he has to remember that he is korean before being an actor or whatever he is! for his own image and korea’s he should not be exempted.
If i could i’d drag his fine ass myself to the station’s gates!lol
and yeah as a black girl i can’t wait for that kissing scene !! yeahhh interacial relationship rock !!

@ AfroSheek

Well, there’s this crazy rumor going around that Black people don’t like Koreans and vice versa. Surely you’ve heard it....

I think anyone who makes more than 25 million dollars a year should be exempt. 

oh wait, that includes only Rain and BJY.  haha.

@ sxaxrxaxh

Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! I only replied to the comment! And don’t act like racism doesn’t exist. Just because you have black friends who like you, doesn’t mean that ALL black people do. There are a lot of Asians (especially in Korea) who still do not like Black people for no other reason than from what they’ve seen in movies.  I’m Blasian and I live in Atlanta so there isn’t much racism between blacks and Asians here, but when I visit my family in LA (which is known for it’s bad black/asian relations), I get mean looks from a lot of Asians when I go into their shops EVEN THOUGH I’m half Asian myself…

Man if it was for Koreans i wouldn’t be able to get my hair care products at a reasonable rate. jk

I have a question: Do they get paid to serve in the military like in the american military?  Cause if they have to serve for 2 years they can lose a considerable amount of income. Compared to what they get for being in the military it’s most likley a significant difference.

I hope that made sense.

A movie star or singer who brings in millions (money) into the country and who promotes that country’s culture throughout Asia/West is FAR FAR FAR more valuable to that country being an entertainer then sitting behind a military desk for 2 years pushing paper.  I think it’s clear the Korean government has been feeling the effects of the Korean Wave and they want that wave to keep rolling as long as it can.  To stop that wave mindstream, would just be stupid especially if it is increasing tourism and spreading it’s culture to foriegn countries.

To the person above who stated Rain isn’t putting Korea in the International Map, think again.  I have seen Rain fan websites in USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Europe in addition to many countries in Asia.  Who else in Korea’s entertainment industry really has that kind of mass appeal?  You can start writing down Korean names all you want but most of those folks probably don’t have fan websites in various languages including English, Spanish, German, Chinese, Japanese, Phillipino, etc. where the people starting/ maintaining those sites are not of Korean descent.  To be honest and I’m not sure why this is the case but many Asian male stars don’t appear to have that kind of cross over appeal unless they started out in entertainment doing some kind of kungfu like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chain or Jet Li. And none of those guys were/are considered to be sexy or cute.  Rain, on the other hand, does seem to have a cross over appeal (even with that long hair he’s being wearing - Yuck!) that I haven’t seen in Korean stars before. I believe his appeal started with the Korean dramas he’s been in but I’m not sure.  Taking off his clothes in his concerts which are plastered all over youtube probably added to his appeal.

My final comment is that if given the choice of serving or not serving, I actually think Rain would go into the military to serve his country rather than duck out.  He seems to really love Korea and he knows he would be branded a coward by Koreans if he didn’t go. In the end, I think he would go even if he gets an exemption from it.

as much as i like rain but he shouldn’t be exempted from military service as long as it’s compulsory for everyone..i mean Wonbin went..all the Shinhwa members are going..they are all big stars.
And Song seung hun he is hallyu and he still went to military service..btw don’t’ forget all the fuss they made for the poor Yoo Seungjun..so if he is not aloud to go back to korea...rain has no right to skip it too..

@sxaxrxaxh
Sadly Arielle06 is right. I’m African-American and I have tons of Asian friends (mostly Korean and Chinese) and I’ve experienced racism from both sides, black and Asian. Some of my friend’s parents were iffy about me when we first met but when they all got to know me and what I was about they loved me. I get invited to go on family trips and everything with all my friend’s families. I can clearly understand their fear tho, it makes me upset sometimes to see how some of my people act because it makes us all look bad, and the same could be said for any other race.

I know a few black people who don’t like Asians and don’t like me because I have Asian friends, but owell. I just happen to have 4 best friends who just happened to be Asian lol. So I’m seen hanging out with them a lot and some people don’t like it. But owell, I love diversity I love being around people of different race, sadly not everyone is like that. And just like Arielle06 said there is a lot of tension between the blacks and Asians in LA. Here in Philly everyone pretty much gets a long interracial dating is so common here lol.

Woh, I wrote a lot....

He will have to serve.  Not doing army service is a big (bad) thing - in Korea.