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 Paul McCartney once said that if compulsory military service in the UK had continued for a few more years, the Beatles might never have been formed. Fellow members John Lennon and Ringo Starr were both born in 1940, McCartney in 1942, and George Harrison in 1943. The Beatles made their debut in 1962, when the members were at an age where they would either have already joined the military or be worrying about enlistment.

As it happened, the UK abolished its conscription system and replaced it with a volunteer-based one. The Beatles were thus able to carry on with their musical careers without having to worry about military service. Had the system’s abolition happened even just a few years later, pop history might never have been the same.

The early role model for the Beatles was the King of Rock ‘n Roll himself, Elvis Presley. Lennon once said that nothing had influenced him before he heard Presley. Presley’s first single “Heartbreak Hotel,” released in January 1956 when Presley was 21 years old, made a dazzling debut, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard singles chart and remaining there for eight weeks.

Presley’s superstar status didn’t mean he could avoid military service. (The US would abolish its conscription system in 1973.) Receiving his draft notice at the height of his popularity in late 1957, he cut his hair and enlisted on Mar. 24 of the following year. After basic training, he served as a rifleman at a US military base in Friedberg, Germany. At the time, the US Defense Department said they had planned to assign him to the military’s artist unit, but that Presley himself had volunteered for a front-lines role.

During his service, Friedberg ended up receiving an expected tourism boost as fans began flocking there. In 2018, the city placed a traffic light featuring an Elvis pictogram: the red light shows him standing and holding a long microphone stand, while the green light shows him performing a leg-swinging dance.

Presley’s two years in the military did nothing to stop his popularity. The albums he released soon after his March 1960 discharge were all big hits. The King made a brilliant return.

These days, a debate is raging over exempting the members of BTS from mandatory military service. The members themselves have clearly stated their intent to serve, but politicians have taken it upon themselves to fuel the fire. In terms of the issue of superstars performing military service, BTS’ situation is more similar to Presley’s than that of the Beatles. Most importantly, of all the countries that have conscription systems, almost none of them operates the kind of broad-ranging preferential treatment system that South Korea does. Continuing to expand exemptions -- which have the potential to raise fairness questions -- is not the answer.

By Son Won-je, editorial writer

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