Four BTS Members to Begin S.Korean Military Service Mid-December 

Jungkook of BTS performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Jungkook of BTS performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Four BTS Members to Begin S.Korean Military Service Mid-December 

Jungkook of BTS performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Jungkook of BTS performs on NBC's "Today" at Rockefeller Plaza on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)

The remaining four members of K-pop supergroup BTS will begin their military service in mid-December, joining the three who are already serving, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, citing music industry sources.

The seven-member group is on temporary break while members carry out South Korea's mandatory military service.

South Korea has one of the world's largest active armies to defend against North Korea, with all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 required to serve between 18 and 21 months.

There has, however, been public debate over whether BTS members should be given exemptions considering their contributions to the lucrative K-pop industry.

The group's main rapper and leader RM and vocalist V will enlist on Dec. 11, while Jimin and Jung Kook will follow suit the next day, Yonhap reported.

After initial training, the four will serve as active-duty army soldiers for 18 months, according to another report in entertainment media outlet Star News.

BTS' management agency HYBE, which has said the four had begun the process of enlistment, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Earlier this month, Jung Kook announced in a blog post he would serve in the military in December.

Jin, 30, the group's oldest member, is set to be discharged from military service in June.



Tim Cook and Rebecca Ferguson Announce New 'Silo' Seasons from the Show's Set

CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/ File Photo
CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/ File Photo
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Tim Cook and Rebecca Ferguson Announce New 'Silo' Seasons from the Show's Set

CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/ File Photo
CEO of Apple Tim Cook gives a presentation as Apple holds an event at the Steve Jobs Theater on its campus in Cupertino, California, U.S. September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Manuel Orbegozo/ File Photo

Sci-fi series "Silo" will return for two more seasons, with the third chapter already shooting in the UK.

Apple CEO Tim Cook joined the series' star and executive producer Rebecca Ferguson on the sprawling "Silo" set at Hoddesdon Studios outside London to make the announcement.

"We feel great about it. We could not be more pleased. We're already filming season three," Cook told Reuters in an interview in the show's Silo 18 cafeteria, Reuters reported

"We get to walk around these environments again under new circumstances, new threats," added Ferguson. "We're back on the show and it's tense, it's wonderful and it's mysterious."

The dystopian drama is based on American author Hugh Howey's "Silo" book trilogy and is set deep underground, where the last remaining people have been sheltering for hundreds of years from what they are told is a toxic environment on the surface of the Earth.

Ferguson plays engineer Juliette, whose suspicions are aroused when she seeks answers to a loved one's death, and she becomes determined to expose the secrets of the silo. Season one ended with Juliette stepping outside of Silo 18 and the second season, currently streaming on Apple TV+, sees her world upended.

The fourth season will conclude the series, the makers said.

Five years on from the launch of Apple TV+ in November 2019, Cook said he considered the service to be "successful by any measure".

"Like the rest of Apple, we're about being the best, not producing the most," said Cook.

"We're focusing on the best quality, with the best storytellers, all original. We think 'Silo' is a fantastic example of that and of course the UK is a great place for storytellers and it's a place where people want to work, and so we're doing a lot in the UK," he said.

New episodes of the 10-part "Silo" season two are released weekly, with the show's finale premiering Jan. 17.