BTS’s Jin Reveals That His Enlistment Plans Changed Several Times And The Real Reason He Chose To Wait For The Busan Concert
One of the biggest news in K-Pop this year was the announcement that BTS‘s Jin was canceling his request to delay his enlistment. It meant that after years of the government trying to make a decision on whether the group should be exempt, the group took it into their own hands.
Jin recently spoke about enlistment, and it seems like the plans regarding their service have been changing throughout the year.
Jin recently released a beautiful music video for his solo track “The Astronaut,” and it captured the hearts of ARMYs worldwide.
To celebrate the occasion, Jin did a live broadcast with fans where he chatted all about his new song, the album, and some TMI from filming the music video.
In particular, he addressed the topic of his enlistment publically for the first time since the announcement.
Jin revealed that the plan was actually to enlist earlier in the year and that BE was meant to be their last album, and they were due to enlist back in 2020.
The idol explained that after “Dynamite” became a success, they shut down that idea, and with the pandemic, they wanted to release songs for ARMYs, including “Butter” and “Permission To Dance.” It was meant to be after the PERMISSION TO DANCE shows, but then the GRAMMYs happened.
So, following the Grammys, I was actually preparing to enlist. And since I hate the cold, I told the company that I’d like to go by May or June, during the summer. And the company okayed that, so everything was going according to plan.
— Jin
Yet, between the concerts, award ceremonies, and then releasing a group album, it seemed tough to fit it in, and they kept pushing it forward.
Yet, the decision to wait until now seemingly was because of ARMYs.
When considering his enlistment, he took into consideration the members’ thoughts. They had clashing views as Jin wanted to enlist in the summer.
Then we were asked to perform at the EXPO. And the members and I disagreed on this a little bit. When I was talking to the members about it, I was like, ‘I really hate the cold. I would really like to enlist in the spring or the summer.
— Jin
Yet, the rest of BTS thought that the best way to do it properly was to wait until they could have a concert with fans cheering, and Busan was the first opportunity they had. So, the members asked Jin if he could stay once the performance was scheduled, adding, “This is probably going to be the last [group performance] that we get to do in a while.”
It’s also because, in Korea, it has been a long time since we were able to perform at an in-person concert with a live audience. They convinced me that it’s probably the right thing to do to give the fans this final concert before I go.
— Jin
When it came to the decision to announce his enlistment, there was also a reason he chose to do it after the Busan concert. Jin revealed that he didn’t want fans to be upset during the show, so he held back his own emotions.
He even addressed some of the “hate” comments he had received.
During the broadcast, he shared some of the negative comments about him not enlisting, including “Why aren’t you going yet? “Why on earth haven’t you left yet?” “What are you doing without enlisting?” Unsurprisingly, it made the idol very sad.
When Jin said this, many ARMYs looked back at the PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE concert in LA and the comments by the members that might have hinted at the enlistment decision.
During the concert, Jungkook shouted, “This is not going to be the last time, this is never going to be…” and it seems even more significant knowing why he said it. He thought it might be the last time for a while they would perform together.
wait so ptd la was supposed to be their last concert before enlisting.. oh now i get it jungkook pic.twitter.com/nIIklmzPU9
— sen⁷ (@sugatradamus) October 28, 2022
As always, BTS prove how much they love ARMYs through the decisions they make. Jin seemingly knew he didn’t want to postpone his enlistment but ensured he could interact with ARMYs beforehand and not make them sad watching them perform together in Busan.
