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omonatheydidSinger and actor receives tearful sendoff from fans as he starts compulsory national service at ripe age of 29
Justin McCurry in Tokyo
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 12 October 2011 08.33 BST
More than half a century after the US military draft put Elvis Presley's career on hold, his modern-day South Korean counterpart bade farewell to tearful fans this week as he prepared for two years' national service.
Sporting closely cropped hair, Jung Ji-hoon – better known as Rain – gave his fans a military salute before starting life as a soldier at an army base in Uijeongbu, north of Seoul.
At 29, Rain is relatively old to be starting his 21-month stint in the army – compulsory for all South Korean men – and some think his time away from music and television could weaken his celebrity status.
But the singer and actor was left with little choice: recent tensions with North Korea mean the South Korean public has little tolerance for men who attempt to use their fame to dodge the draft.
His farewell confirmed the huge appeal Korean pop music enjoys internationally. Among the hundreds who turned out to see him off were fans from China and Japan, where K-pop artists have become household names.
"Thank you for the 10 years of love," he told his fans, many of whom were holding up banners bearing messages of encouragement.
Military service, compulsory for all able-bodied South Korean men, poses a potentially career-ending problem for entertainers and sportsmen. Athletes are sometimes exempted if they win an Olympic gold or achieve a similarly lofty feat, but no exceptions are made for singers and actors, even the most successful ones.
Rain, named by Time magazine as one of the world's most influential people of 2011, is not expected to receive special treatment during his time in South Korea's 650,000-strong military.
The singer has not spoken in detail about the prospect of swapping the stage for the assault course, but he will have pleased the South Korean authorities by accepting his fate with equanimity.
Song Seung-heon, a popular actor with a big following in Japan and other parts of Asia, invited an avalanche of criticism in 2004 after he attempted to avoid the draft. He later joined the army and has resumed his career.
Other figures from the entertainment world have faced a similar backlash amid an escalation in bellicose rhetoric from the
north.
"The mood against draft-dodgers is so hostile that nowadays entertainers feel it's better to get it over and done with," Ha Jae-keun a pop columnist, told Associated Press, adding that in the current political climate national service could even improve an entertainer's image.
Rain enters military service, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, on the back of seven albums, appearances in several Korean films and, in 2008, his Hollywood debut in Speed Racer.
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Date: 2011-10-12 01:04 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-10-12 01:30 pm (UTC)This concert? Luckyy~
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Date: 2011-10-12 01:26 pm (UTC)stay safe rain -♥
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Date: 2011-10-12 01:31 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2011-10-12 01:43 pm (UTC)good luck!
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Date: 2011-10-13 04:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-10-12 02:00 pm (UTC)Imagine how buff he'll be when he comes out though...
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Date: 2011-10-12 02:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-10-12 02:04 pm (UTC)All sad like for the rest of the week. Had a super Rain spam Mon on tumblr. Made me feel warm and fuzzy.
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Date: 2011-10-12 02:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2011-10-12 04:52 pm (UTC)But there are still army radio shows and some entertainers still get to do performances so I just wish Rain the best of luck :D
Watching the live tweets when he was leaving and his last performances. Omg clouds are so awwesome ;~;
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Date: 2011-10-12 05:20 pm (UTC)don't worry, we will still be around when you come back^^