Over Half of the Nation Says "BTS Must Complete Military Service"... Opposition to Exemption Highest Among People in Their 20s

More Than Half of Both Men and Women Say "Military Service Duty Must Be Fulfilled"

The group BTS was appointed as promotional ambassadors at the 2030 Busan Expo ambassador appointment ceremony held on July 19 at HYBE Corporation in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and is taking a commemorative photo. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] A public opinion survey revealed that more than half of the nation's population opposes the military service exemption for the group BTS (Bangtan Sonyeondan). The response "must fulfill military duty" was 54.1%, while "should be granted exemption benefits" was 40.1%.

This result was announced on the 5th after polling 1,001 voters nationwide about BTS's military service exemption, conducted by the polling specialist company Jowon C&I at the request of Straight News.

The response "must fulfill military duty" was highest among those in their 20s (73.2%). It was followed by those in their 30s (60.4%), 40s (49.4%), 50s (48.3%), and 60 and older (47.5%), showing a majority opposition in these age groups.

In particular, the rate of "must fulfill military duty" responses was higher than the support for exemption in all regions. In the Daegu-Gyeongbuk and Gangwon-Jeju regions, opposition to the exemption accounted for 69.3% and 69.6%, respectively.

Additionally, more than half of both men (58.1%) and women (50.3%) responded that military duty must be fulfilled, with men showing a 7.7 percentage point higher opposition than women.

This survey was conducted via ARS polling (100% RDD method using mobile phones), with a response rate of 4.0% and a sampling error of ±3.1 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.