If the fans are sad, so are people in industries that will be affected by the announcement that BTS’ members will start serving their mandatory military service in South Korea.
The “economic cost” was computed in an 18 October report on fortune.com.
“In 2018, Hyundai Research Institute said BTS was contributing more than $3.6 billion to the South Korean economy every year — equivalent to the contribution of 26 midsize companies.”
BTS is said to be the reason one in every 13 tourists visited South Korea in 2017. The group’s home country also earned “an estimated $1.1 billion from consumer goods exports like merchandise and cosmetics in a single year.”
According to analysts, BTS, between 2014 and 2023, “would have contributed 41.8 trillion won ($29.4 billion) to the South Korean economy if the band maintained its popularity.”
BTS’ management itself HYBE, had taken a hit as early as June — when the group’s impending conscription first made the news. HYBE’s shares of stock lost a quarter of their value, “falling to its lowest since the company went public two years earlier.”
As of 2020, the seven-member group, composed of RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, collectively had a net worth of $50 million.
On 17 October, HYBE’s shares went down further by 2.5 percent.
BTS was the first K-pop group to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Jin, the eldest in the group, will be the first member to enter military service at the end of October.