BTS member Jin bids adieu to fans as he joins military, says 'It's curtain call time'

New Delhi: Jin, the eldest member of the South Korean music group BTS, on Tuesday morning said his goodbyes to several fans across the globe as he enlisted for his mandatory military duty.

The 30-year-old vocalist took to fan community forum Weverse to share his message for ARMY -- the fan group of BTS -- before he left for his service.

"Now it's curtain call time," he wrote in Korean in reference to a character called 'Jhin' in the video game 'League of Legends'.

"I wanted to do it when I went to the army," said Jin, who is a gaming enthusiast.

Later in the day, the official Twitter page of BTS shared a photo of the other six members of the band RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook as they sent Jin off to the recruiting centre.

"Our brother!! Come back safely!! Love you," read the caption of the post.

On Monday, BTS management agency BigHit Music had said Jin will enter the grounds of the recruit training centre in a vehicle without greeting the media or fans separately.

The Seoul-based company had also appealed to ARMY as well as mediapersons to not crowd the site.

There is "no separate waiting space for reporters", the BTS agency said in its statement as reported by the entertainment website Soompi.

Quoting military and industry sources, the Korean media said Jin will enter a boot camp of a front-line army division in Yeoncheon, 60 kilometres north of Seoul, on Tuesday.

In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18-28 are required to serve in the military for about two years. All BTS members had been allowed to put off starting their military service until they turned 30.

On Sunday evening, Jin had posted a selfie on Weverse, showing off his military haircut.

BigHit Music had earlier said other members plan to carry out their duty based on their own individual plans.

After reports of Suga enlisting as a public service worker in the South Korean military surfaced on Tuesday, a representative for the agency said: "BTS members plan to serve in the military sequentially according to their own plans. It is difficult to confirm the artist's personal information." The group, which debuted in 2013, is currently on a break as a unit with each of its members pursuing solo projects.

BTS, known for songs "Blood Sweat Tears", "DNA", "Idol", and the Grammy-nominated English tracks "Dynamite", "Butter" and most recently "My Universe" featuring British rock band Coldplay, had announced their hiatus in June. They hope to reconvene as a unit around 2025 following their service commitment.