[SBS Star] "They Referred to Me As..." BTS JIN Shares How Popular He Was in the Military

JIN of K-pop boy group BTS reflected on his military life, highlighting the strong connections he formed with his fellow soldiers.

On July 10, Weverse Magazine published an interview with JIN following his recent discharge from the military.

"I'm still feeling quite confused. I can't believe that I'm discharged from the military; it still feels like I'm on a temporary break, and I'll have to go back soon.", said the BTS member.

"I get drowsy without fail around 10 or 11 pm, which was the bedtime in the military. But I've been quickly adjusting to civilian life, working until late at night and occasionally waking up at five in the morning. It's been eight days since my discharge, and I had to work almost every day except for one.", he remarked.
On the day of JIN's discharge, JIN hugged his fellow military members as he prepared to exit the military site; some of them said to have shed tears, showing how good colleague JIN had been.

"They don't cry at everyone's discharge; it's only when the exceptional ones leave. I wasn't particularly outstanding, but I was quite popular.", JIN revealed, sharing that the secret to his popularity was treating his fellow soldiers to meals.

"I splurged my entire monthly paycheck from the military plus a lot more money on treating fellow soldiers to meals. Many of them are in their early twenties or have not started working yet, and I have much more money than them. 'It's important to have a lot of delicious food to maintain good health. Let's go, it's my treat.', saying things like that, I used to treat them to meals."

"I treated them chickens, jokbals (Korean dish made with braised pig's trotters), and pizzas so frequently that they grew tired of it. I used to invite my dormmates and soldiers from other dorms to BBQ restaurants and treated everyone."

"This may sound weird coming out of my mouth, but they used to refer to me as 'God' in my unit. They used to say, 'Worship him!', whenever they saw me.", JIN said and laughed.

He mentioned that his fellow soldiers were kind to him, expressing his appreciation.
Meanwhile, JIN completed his mandatory military service on June 12, making him the first member of BTS to be discharged from the military.

After his discharge, JIN immediately started his K-pop star activities by greeting his fans at 'FESTA', an annual event celebrating the date of BTS' debut.

JIN will be on MBC's television show 'It's a Good Thing If You Rest Well' (literal translation) and will soon head to France as he's selected as a torchbearer for the torch relay in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
(Credit= SBS Entertainment News/Baik Seung-chul, 'jin' Instagram)

(SBS Star)