This BTS member is expected to serve as torchbearer for 2024 Olympic Games
BTS' Jin has been given a special honor at this year's Olympics.
The South Korean singer will serve as a torchbearer at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the games confirmed via email Wednesday.
The K-pop star will take part in the Olympic Torch Relay "to spread the message of 'harmony' and 'peace,'" according to a press release.
It is unclear when the singer, who recently finished his mandatory military service in South Korea, will join the relay, which is traveling across historic sites in France in time for the Olympics. Per tradition, the Olympic torch is first lit in Olympia, Greece, where the games originated. The torch's journey began on April 16.
Earlier this week, the Olympic torch was in Nord, a department in France. The games kick off July 24.
USA TODAY has reached out to the Olympic Games and BTS' reps for comment.
Jin, who at 31 is the oldest member of the wildly popular South Korean boy band, was discharged from the country's army last month after serving 18 months. Other members of the group — Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jung Kook — began serving the following year. They are "looking forward to reconvening as a group again around 2025 following their service commitment," the band's label, Big Hit Music, has said.
South Korean media reported several members of the septet applied for leave to celebrate the occasion.
Jin was also seen celebrating with his bandmates in a photo shared on X. The group gathered behind a cake and were surrounded by balloons spelling out, "Jin is back." Translated into English, the post read, "I'm home!"
BTS' Jin celebrates with bandmates after completing military service
South Korea requires all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 28 to serve between 18 to 21 months in the military or social service, but it revised the law in 2020 to let globally recognized K-pop stars delay signing up until age 30.
Contributing: Hyunsu Yim, Reuters; Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2024 Paris Olympic Games: BTS' Jin to join torch relay
