While the Korean Ministry of National Defense announced that they might conduct a public survey on BTS’s mandatory military service exemption (later rescinded), two Korean media outlets have decided to conduct the survey on their own.
According to the results of a survey conducted by KBC Kwangju Broadcasting and UPI News on September 1, 57.7% of the respondents said they support special military exemptions for BTS and 39.7% oppose the exemption. The remaining 2.6% is undecided.
Specifically, 35.3% strongly support, 22.4% partly support, 12.3% slightly oppose, and 27.5% strongly oppose the exemption from military enlistment for the global K-pop group. .
A total of 800 people were surveyed and by gender, 62.8% of those polled in favor were women, while 54.8% were men. Meanwhile, 63.9% of the respondents who voted against the exemption were men in their 20s.
When asked about delaying the group’s enlistment by a few years instead of being exempted, 57.4% supported and 39.1% opposed the delay. In addition, 3.5% replied that they were not sure.
The results were similar when the survey was conducted involving popular artists other than BTS.
In addition, 58.6% support special military exemptions for famous artists who have contributed to enhancing national prestige and promoting Korean culture. Only 37.6% disagreed.
