BTS Jin, who came to the military gate amid saxophone congratulations… “Hello Army”

BTS Jin, who came to the military gate amid saxophone congratulations… “Hello Army”

Today (12th), the area in front of the recruit training center of the 5th Infantry Division in Yeoncheon-gun, Gyeonggi-do, where Jin (Kim Seok-jin), the eldest brother of the group BTS, was discharged after completing 1 year and 6 months of military service, was more noisy than usual with reporters.

Jin enlisted as an active-duty soldier in the Army in December 2022 and has been serving as an assistant instructor at Shinkyodae. Today, he is the first of the seven members of BTS to complete his military service.

Reporters from home and abroad appeared in front of the main gate of Shinkyodae from early morning.

The Russian reporters said, "We left early from Seoul and arrived at 6:30 a.m. We came to cover because there are many BTS fans in Russia."

Authorities, including the military and police, set up a cordon across from the main gate of Shinkyodae University to block reporters' access.

Jin walked down from the Shinkyodae compound at around 8:25 a.m. to the applause of his fellow soldiers lined up in a row, then hugged each of his fellow soldiers one by one and said goodbye, wiping away tears.

Jin, who had a simple discharge ceremony, walked out of the guardhouse at around 8:50 a.m. and saluted the reporters.

At the end of the salute, BTS members approached and greeted us warmly.

Five members, excluding Suga, made a surprise visit using five black vans.

In particular, RM, who is serving in the military band, congratulated us by playing the saxophone.

Additionally, members Jimin and Jungkook in military uniform, and J-Hope and V in civilian clothes delivered bouquets of flowers and hugged Jin.

This was the end of the on-site event to welcome Jin's discharge.

As the agency requested in advance to refrain from visiting the site, few fans showed up.

A military official said, "We had discussions with the agency, but since the space is limited and he is still on active duty until today, we decided not to hold a separate discharge event."

However, fans have shown their polite fan spirit by hanging placards congratulating Jin on his discharge from the military at various locations around the main gate a week ago.

Even today, banners and large balloons were seen near the main gate and on the road leading to Shingyodae University with phrases such as ‘Jin’s assistant teacher, welcome to Seokjin who has completed his space journey’ and ‘Cheering for Jin who will run again’.

The Yeoncheon-gun Office also has a sign on the exterior wall right in front of the guard post that reads, “Yeoncheon-gun was a happy year and a half for us.”

They also hung a banner that said, ‘Yeoncheon will not forget you.’

Jin, who left the scene in a black van after saying "Goodbye ARMY" to the reporters, attended the "2024 FESTA" held at Jamsil Indoor Stadium in Seoul on the 13th and met "ARMY" (BTS fandom).

Jin (real name Kim Seok-jin), the eldest member of the group BTS, returned to fans after completing one year and six months of military service amid congratulations from the members.

On the morning of the 12th, Jin completed his active-duty military service at the 5th Infantry Division Recruit Training Battalion in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi-do and was discharged. With this, Jin became the first member of BTS to be discharged from the military.