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K-Pop Group BTS Won't Be Exempt From Military Service

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Even K-pop stars get treated the same as everyone else. In South Korea, there is compulsory military service for men, but some athletes and classical artists are exempt if they tour around the world. Recently, there've been calls for supergroups like BTS to get waivers, too. So the government considered it, but then there was all kinds of backlash. In the end, the culture minister said they will have to enlist even though he personally wished he could give BTS an exemption. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.