Kim Jae-uck to enter military in summer

Model, singer and actor Kim Jae-uck [ESteem Models]

Singer, model and actor Kim Jae-uck will enter the military in the summer, according to his agency ESteem Models on Wednesday.

An official at ESteem told 10Asia over the phone that Kim will join the military early in the summer as part of fulfilling the two-year duty required of all Korean men, although the exact date has yet to be set.

Accordingly, Kim will step down from musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" in which he rotates the main character of transgender rock singer Hedwig with Kim Dong-wan, Choi Jae-woong and Jo Jeong-seok.

"Goosebumps ran all over my body the moment I read the script and listened to the music for 'Hedwig' which made me know that this was a production I must do so I'm sad," Kim said of having to depart the musical early.

June 19 will be the last time Kim will take to the stage of the famed production, about a month after the show raised its curtains at KT&G's Sangsang Arthall in Seoul and ahead of its closing on August 21.

Kim, 28, debuted in 2002 but came into the spotlight after appearing in smash hit drama "The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince" (MBC, 2007) and has since made several more appearances on the small and big screen including film "Antique" (2008) and the dramas "Bad Boy" (SBS, 2010) and "Marry me, Mary” (KBS, 2010).

He turned a vocalist for his current rock band Walrus in late January of this year which released their first single album “Walrus."

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Jessica Kim jesskim@