The oldest member of South Korean K-pop sensation BTS has wowed his legions of admirers in China and across the world by offering free hugs to fans at an event in Seoul just 24 hours after his discharge from military service. Jin – the first of the seven-member boy band to complete his service – gave individual hugs to 1,000 specially selected fans at an event on Thursday afternoon at the Jamsil Sports Complex in the South Korean capital. However, the excitement was not limited to the star’s home country. Among his legion of mainland fans, the moment sparked an online frenzy and fevered excitement about a BTS reunion. The band are expected to resume their stellar musical journey in 2025 after the remaining six members of the band complete their compulsory stint in the military. As online excitement spread, the hashtag #BTSreunion had attracted 47 million views and 23,000 comments on Weibo by the time of writing. One online fan in China said: “It is just the beginning. The same reunion will happen six more times in the future.” While another simply said: “Welcome back Jin.” “The event was so emotional,” said another person on Douyin. The star, whose real name is Kim Seok-jin, enlisted in December 2022. In a live-stream immediately after his discharge on June 12, which amassed more than 3 million views on Weverse, Jin said the free hugs event only went ahead after difficult discussions with the band’s management company. Jin said safety concerns had seen the company scale back from an initial plan to offer hugs to 3,000 fans on his discharge. This followed earlier controversy over a BTS album-buying quota criteria the management company had come up with to select the lucky fans who would attend. The company was accused of taking advantage of Jin’s generosity to boost album sales, a situation for which Jin apologised during his June 12 live-stream. Fans have been sharing video footage of the afternoon free hug event at the Jamsil Sports Complex. With BTS’s song Spring Day playing in the background, Jin is adorned in casual-style knitwear and jeans, holding a cardboard with an adorable cartoon figure and “hug me” text in Korean. He warmly greets and embraces his fans individually. One fan eloquently expressed on platform X that “his love is akin to the gravitational force between the moon and the Earth.” Fellow BTS band members, J-Hope, RM, V, Jimin and Jungkook, took a day off from their national service to greet Jin as he left the military base in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province. RM played saxophone music from the group’s hit song Dynamite in the background. Jin said leaving the military was an emotional moment: “It has been fun for the last year and six months. I met so many amazing people,” he said. The singer said he was overwhelmed by the welcoming messages and gifts he had received. “I’m normally more handsome than this, but I cried when I was discharged. I usually look confident, but I’m less confident today,” he said. In South Korea, all able-bodied men are required to serve in the military for 18 to 21 months between the ages of 18 and 35.
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