Pop culture organizations call for fair military duty policies

Pop culture organizations call for fair military duty policies: K-POP / 연합뉴스 / 2023-10-16 10:58:55

▲ Members of South Korea's boy band BTS see off the band's eldest member, Jin (C), in this image captured from BTS' social media service on Dec. 13, 2022, when he entered a boot camp in a front-line area to begin his mandatory military service. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Pop culture organizations call for fair military duty policies

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- Big-five organizations of South Korean pop culture insisted that K-pop artists should not undergo discrimination in military service system, in relation to the recent controversy concerning the military exemptions of the male athletes who performed well in the 2023 Asian Games.

Since 1973, young South Korean males who promoted national prestige by clinching gold medals from international sports events, including the Olympics and Asian Games, as well as classical musicians who win top prizes from prestigious competitions, are given exemptions of conscription.

Cultural figures, such as K-pop supergroup BTS, are not eligible for exemptions although they are considered to have promoted the national image under the current system.

These institutions, including the Korean Music Content Association, the Korean Entertainment Producers Association, the Korean Entertainment Management Association, the Korean Management Federation, and the Korean Music Label Industry Association, issued a joint statement, saying, such practice is an act of discrimination of K-pop artists in the entertainment industry.

These five organizations asserted, "A field like K-culture, which has contributed to raising our country's prestige and cultural export, are as valuable as pure arts and sports, as exemplified by the Hangzhou Asian Games national team."

They also emphasized that the K-entertainment’s contribution to the nation's prestige should not be considered inferior to that of pure artists or athletes.

The organizations stated, "Despite all these, popular culture artists are not eligible to become arts or sports personnel. Inequality, where opportunities are not even provided solely because of being a popular culture artist, should be rectified."

Under the current Military Service Act, the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism can recommend individuals in the arts and sports fields as arts or sports personnel, as designated by a presidential decree. However, the executive order implementing this law does not specify popular culture as an area of expertise, leading to backlashes from the fandom and the industries.

Currently, BTS is on a hiatus from group activities due to the members' mandatory military service.

In response to arguments that popular culture artists do not need to be included as arts or sports personnel due to their commercial activities, the five organizations countered, stating, "The income of many professional athletes and artists is not significantly less compared to popular culture artists."

They added, "If the government and industry cooperate, they can establish sufficient sets of criteria for popular culture artists as arts or sports personnel."

They added, "The prime of popular culture artists' abilities also exists, and if they miss their golden age, such glory may end up being a one-time occurrence.

jwc@yna.co.kr

▲ The logos of Korean Music Content Association, the Korean Entertainment Producers Association, the Korean Entertainment Management Association, the Korean Management Federation, and the Korean Music Label Industry Association. (Yonhap) (PHOTOS NOT FOR SALE)