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Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

South Korea's Economy Loses $3.9 Billion Due to BTS’ Enlistment


Sat 24 Dec 2022 | 03:44 PM
BTS
BTS
Omnia Ahmed

BTS' military service likely affected the South Korean economy by nearly $3.9 billion in economic value annually.

Jin, the oldest member of BTS, began his mandatory military service earlier this month, and he will be followed by the remaining six members later.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band members are slated to join the service and likely return only after 2025.

In 2018, the Hyundai Research Institute (HRI) reported that the K-pop phenomenon generates an estimated amount of $3.54 billion in annual economic value nationwide, in addition to $1.26 billion as the added value per year.

Based on Statista’s analysis of the 2018 company revenues report, BTS’ contribution to South Korea’s GDP is almost comparable with Korean Air.

According to financial reports, the overall economic effect of BTS on South Korea equaled $4.9 billion as of 2019.

BTS surpassed fellow Korean act Psy, who brought an economic value of $781.1 million with his song “Gangnam Style” as well as Korean actor Bae Yong Joon who registered an economic value of $2.72 billion with his drama “Winter Sonata”.

HRI predicted that the group’s 10-year economic impact will reach $49.8 billion. This number will easily surpass the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018 which reached $32.49 billion.

Moreover, they projected that BTS may generate an economic value of $32.65 billion in the 2014–2023 period.

Alone, the BTS 5th Muster (Magic Shop) concerts, which were held in Busan and Seoul on June 2019, brought $375.94 million.