BTS' Jin is sporting a new look ahead of his military duties
Jin debuted his newly shaved head in a Dec. 11 selfie on the social media site Weverse, captioned, "Cuter than expected." On Tuesday Dec. 13, he left the BTS Army with a parting message: "It's curtain call time."
Jin also showed off the look to his bandmates as he begins his mandatory military service in the South Korean Army. The official BTS Twitter account posted a pair of snaps of the group laughing together, including one pic of the boys playing with Jin's short hair. In Korean, the Dec. 12 post was captioned, "My brother! Come back safe! I love you."
Jin, who is the oldest BTS member at 30, is the first in the band to begin their 18-month-long military duties, which all able-bodied men between 18 and 35 years old are required to serve. In October, Big Hit Music, the group's label, announced that the band—comprised of members Jin, RM, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook—would be taking a break until 2025 as they fulfill their duties.
Jin is expected to serve through June 2024, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry.
BTS' hiatus for military purposes comes months after the band announced they would be taking a break to take on other projects, including solo music.
"We're each going to take some time to have fun and experience lots of things," Jungkook said in a June video announcing the break. "We promise we will return someday, even more mature than we are now."
However, a rep for the band told E! News in a statement, "To be clear, they are not on hiatus but will take time to explore some solo projects at this time and remain active in various different formats."
J-Hope was the first BTS member to release solo work after the June announcement. His album Jack in the Box was released on July 15, shortly after the first single "More" debuted July 1.
Meanwhile, Jimin recorded "With You" in collaboration with Wanna One's Ha Sung Woon for the soundtrack of the South Korean TV series Our Blues. The song spent seven weeks on Billboard's Hot Trending Songs chart, topping it in May.