South Korea’s soft power strategy is validated by BTS’s military choice

When South Korean boy band/K-pop sensation BTS takes the stage in Seoul this June, ending a four-year hiatus from touring, it will mean more than just a comeback: It will validate one of the smartest soft-power decisions in recent memory.

In 2022, at the absolute height of their global dominance, the group’s seven members opted to serve their mandatory military service rather than apply for exemptions, which would almost certainly be granted. Their management company, HYBE, supported the decision. The world received a masterclass in how cultural power is created.

The cynics predicted career suicide. Instead, BTS has shown that soft power is not based on avoiding obligations, but on embracing them. When they come together again on stage, they will do so with greater credibility, because they have proven that their success has not exempted them from the responsibilities of ordinary citizens. Americans remember that Elvis followed a similar course at the height of his fame.

The beauty of soft power is that, although generated by creative individuals and companies, it benefits the entire country. Like economic power and the armed forces, soft power generates influence that can be used to strengthen a nation’s position. Examples of soft power abound: from Britain’s cricket legacy and the rock ‘n’ roll invasion of the 1960s, to French and Italian cinema, to the American NBA, jazz music and Hollywood’s entertainment machine. Now South Korea is stepping up.

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So it’s almost tragic that while BTS served in the military, the ecosystem that made the band possible has come under increasing scrutiny. South Korea has become expert at creating cultural phenomena that captivate the world – and equally expert at treating the architects of that success with suspicion once they reach scale. This is a pattern that South Korea cannot afford.

South Korea’s cultural superiority did not come from a government plan. It was born of creative ambition, commercial ruthlessness and just enough regulatory space for experimentation. The K-pop system requires massive capital investments, sophisticated global distribution, and executives willing to bet nine figures on whether teens in Jakarta and São Paulo will stream the same songs.

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Yet there is a reflex in South Korean public life that views popularity as evidence of wrongdoing. Bang Si-hyuk, the producer who built HYBE and made BTS a global phenomenon, now faces legal scrutiny over stock transactions — the kind of corporate governance questions that seem almost inevitable to arise once South Korean companies achieve sufficient scale.

The details matter less than the pattern: taking bold risks generates soft power and then invites exploration when it succeeds.

Executives who could be building the next BTS or international TV sensation like “Crash Landing on You” are watching what happens to those who came before and recalibrating their ambition accordingly. In cultural soft power, this reflex is potentially fatal.

South Korea’s competitors are watching. China has spent billions trying to produce soft power through state-owned enterprises. The People’s Republic of China has largely failed – because the public smells propaganda. South Korean free enterprise manages to create cultural exports that are simultaneously local and universal, specific enough to feel authentic in Seoul and accessible enough to travel around the world.

This is the opportunity for South Korea. Japan had a similar window with anime and video games in the 1990s, but largely failed to capitalize on this trend due to government missteps. South Korea could easily repeat this mistake and lose the global influence that comes with serious national soft power.

South Korea must recognize soft power assets as strategic resources. France protects its luxury brands because Paris recognizes that these companies radiate French taste globally in a way that no government agency could. South Korea should ask itself: What institutional arrangements allow us to maintain standards while protecting our champions?

South Korea’s cultural superiority did not come from a government plan. It was born of creative ambition, commercial ruthlessness and just enough regulatory space for experimentation.

BTS’s decision to fulfill their national military service obligations shows what is possible when artists, businesses and national interests voluntarily align. HYBE supported that choice. But South Korea cannot count on making such choices repeatedly if the system views success as inherently suspect.

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In June 2026, when BTS embarks on a world tour that will generate billions in economic impact and invaluable goodwill toward South Korea, consider that this moment almost didn’t happen. The members could have applied for an exemption. Instead, they opted for service and came back stronger.

But South Korea cannot count on such choices if the message to cultural entrepreneurs is that success invites critical examination. The next generation is watching and deciding whether to focus on global impact or settle for homeland security.

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Then-press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre started the May 2022 briefing by welcoming BTS as “special guests” to the briefing room. (Kevin Dietsch)

South Korea grew into a cultural superpower. It doesn’t have to trip out. But that requires recognizing that the bold, imperfect figures building global cultural enterprises are assets to be protected, not problems to be managed.

BTS has made their choice: they bet on their country. Now South Korea must decide whether to bet on the people who will create the next BTS, or whether to do research instead.

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