BTS’ RM and V bid goodbye to fans ahead of military enlistment today

BTS members RM and V have penned letters to fans ahead of their military enlistment today.

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The two BTS members will be enlisting today (December 11) for their mandatory military service, as required of South Korean men. This makes them the fourth and fifth members of the band to enlist. On the eve of his enlistment, BTS’ leader RM took to Instagram stories to share a heartfelt letter to fans.

“Hello to everyone I love. That day has come at last. I feel like there were so many things I wanted to say to you, but now that it’s here, I can’t seem to find the words,” he wrote, as translated by Soompi.

“I have faith and I have no doubt that after this passes, new good things will be waiting for us,” RM continued. He added that watching his bandmates Jin and J-hope “gallantly doing such a great job” in their respective military vocations gives him “unparalleled courage”.

Jin and J-hope had been the first two members of the boyband to enlist, the former in December 2022 and the latter in April this year. Rapper Suga also enlisted in September.

RM shared that he saw his enlistment as an opportunity for inspiration and learning for both himself and fans, and that he was comforted by the anticipation of returning to music and his fans in 18 months. “Let’s meet in the future. I love you a lot. I hope [these feelings] will reach you, even a little bit,” he wrote before signing off.

Meanwhile, V also took to Instagram stories the day prior to his enlistment to share a series of photos of his new buzzcut.

He followed this with uploads from his camera roll on both Instagram and fan community app Weverse, along with a letter to fans on the latter. “I’ll return really healthy after 18 months, so ARMY, take care of your health and look for happiness every day until I return,” he wrote, as translated by Koreaboo. In his letter, V also teased that he had “prepared a lot of things” to be released over his enlistment period.

On the morning of his enlistment, V also shared a screenshot of himself and BTS’ youngest member Jungkook both sporting buzzcuts during a video call. Jungkook, along with bandmate Jimin will enlist tomorrow (December 12).  “Hyung is going first. Have a safe enlistment tomorrow,” he captioned.

Big Hit Music first announced that the four BTS members had started the process for their military enlistment in November. Jimin and Jungkook will be the last of the septet to enlist tomorrow. The boyband are expected to reconvene some time in 2025, after all seven members have completed their service.