Teen Top's Niel directly revealed that he has been exempt from military service.
Recently, an interview with Niel, who has returned with his fourth solo mini-album 'SHE', was held at a cafe in Gangnam, Seoul.
On this day, Niel opened up about his stance on military service issues before the official interview, noting that he is currently 30 years old, having been born in 1994, but has not yet communicated any news regarding military duty, which has drawn interest about his enlistment status.
In this regard, Niel explained, "In fact, I was assessed as a social service worker in 2021 and was waiting to enlist, but I was exempted last year as a wartime labor reserve."
The wartime labor reserve refers to individuals summoned to perform military support duties during national emergencies such as war or disasters. Those living in areas with a large number of social service workers or in remote regions, who have been waiting for long periods for their summons, may be classified as wartime labor reserves to ensure their entry into society.
In fact, it is reported that more than 10,000 social service candidates have been exempted from military service as wartime labor reserves after exceeding the long wait period of three years from 2020 until last August. The imbalance in the placement of social service workers is leading to an increase in those waiting for a long time. Actor Na In-woo falls into this category, and his military exemption was publicized last December after he received a grade 4 supplementary reserve assessment and spent three years waiting without receiving a summons.
In the meantime, Niel received a social service worker assessment in 2021 and was classified as a wartime labor reserve last year. However, regarding the reason for being assessed as a social service worker, he cautiously stated, "It's difficult to talk about personal reasons." (Continues to interview ②.)
[Photo] EL&D Entertainment
[OSEN]