SEOUL- The South Korean army faces a new problem as a number of K-pop and K-drama stars enlist this year. After G-Dragon of Big Bang enlisted in February, his agency says the military training centre has received an “excessive” amount of fan mail addressed to the star.
YG Entertainment, which represents the singer-rapper, issued a notice on its social media account and website on Saturday (March 10). The statement read: “G-Dragon is in a difficult position within his military unit as the amount of incoming mail from fans is excessive.”
According to the agency’s explanation, every e-mail sent to the military division has to be printed out and handed over to the soldier. But the number of letters sent to G-Dragon is depleting the amount of ink and paper allotted to the office’s printing machine. Office work is slowing down, while letters to other soldiers in training may be affected as well.
“G-Dragon feels sorry to fellow training soldiers and also to his fans, as he cannot possibly read all of the letters,” the notice read.
G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji Young, began his mandatory military service on Feb 27. In South Korea, all able-bodied men have to carry out their military duty for about two years.
His fellow members from K-pop group Big Bang, Daesung and Taeyang, are set to enlist this week. T.O.P began his military service in February last year.
The Korean army is also expecting a TV star: actor Lee Min Ho will start his four-week basic training on Thursday at Korea Army Training Centre in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province.
The actor’s agency MYM Entertainment on Sunday confirmed Lee will be joining basic training. The agency added that there will be no official meeting ahead of his entering the center.
After the four-week training, Lee will return to his public service worker duty at the Suseo Social Welfare Center, where he has been serving for 10 months.
