In South Korea, all able-bodied men over the age of 18 are required to complete approximately 18 to 21 months of mandatory military service, depending on the branch they join.
This is no exception for K-pop idols. This mandatory military service often means a temporary pause in group activities, especially when multiple members enlist around the same time. Although most groups opt to promote individually or with the remaining members, the mandatory military service often puts a halt to full group activities.
Recently, the total number of days some K-pop groups spent on a full group hiatus due to military enlistment has garnered attention online.
The latest list detailing the total number of full-group hiatus days has sparked an online discussion, with netizens expressing surprise at just how long some K-pop boy groups were inactive due to mandatory military service.
They commented:
"But if you think about their comeback in the middle, you can’t just go by the number of days. Some groups had overlapping enlistments like one member goes → someone returns → another member goes, so even if it adds up to 1500 days, it feels very different."
"Super Junior is unbeatable."
"Seventeen!!! Even if it takes 10 years, I’ll wait."
"I calculated EXO’s: It’s 2,329 days..."
"Seventeen has 13 members, how are they gonna do this..."
"Super Junior’s first enlistment was just... lol."
"What’s Seventeen gonna do, they’re a 13-member group... It’s just starting now... I’ll still wait."
"BTS served well. That was short."
"More than the number of members, the age gap matters. Even with many members, if their ages are similar, the hiatus is shorter."
"I like that BTS had a short hiatus."
"Wow, ONF had a shorter hiatus than even Chanhyuk’s solo enlistment lol."
"For fans, is it better for everyone to enlist together or go one by one?"
"B1A4’s hiatus seems longer because two members did alternative (public) service.
ONF (except their foreign member) all served in the Army, so it was 1.5 years."
"I personally liked that they all went together. I just focused on real life during that time, haha."
"Enlisting together really is the best."
"Going together or at least around the same time is definitely good."
"Still, Seventeen members are pretty close in age, so the hiatus won’t be too long, considering their group size."
"For DAY6, it was long when you look at the numbers. But Young K worked until the day before enlistment, and Sungjin started interacting right after discharge, even doing radio. That made me forget it was almost 1000 days."
"If there’s a big age gap, they can still promote in between, but the smaller the age gap, the shorter the hiatus overall."
"I was wondering why MONSTA X wasn’t there, but I guess Changkyun hasn’t enlisted yet."
"2PM isn’t on the list, sigh."
"I’m curious about NCT lol"
"But Super Junior kept releasing albums and going on tour even while members were enlisted, and those discharged would just rejoin."
What do you think about this topic? Do you think all members should enlist all at once or in phases? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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