BTS' V Accomplishments During His South Korean Military Service

Forbes

2 days ago

As V began the enlistment process to fulfill his mandatory South Korean military service in late 2023, the BTS superstar continued his ongoing global takeover without skipping a beat.
V, whose full name is Kim Taehyung, enlisted for his service on December 11, 2023, and was soon assigned to fulfill his duties under the Special Task Force of the Military Police Corp. From dropping chart-topping solo singles to racking up awards from around the world, alongside new projects like his own photo book, unexpected duets, and charity donations, V's military service period still managed to be a springboard for creativity and generosity.
As his duty wraps on June 10, 2025, it's clear that even in uniform, V's star power never dimmed — if anything, it's only shone brighter. Let's take a look at some of the biggest accomplishments from the last 18 months.
On December 20, 2023, just days after V enlisted, Japan's Oricon Charts revealed its 2023 year-end rankings with the news that his Layover album ranked at No. 16 for the year. With 15 albums by bands or duos ahead of Layover, V earned the distinction of being the highest-ranked soloist among all releases that year.
With the December 30 release of his collaboration track 'Wherever U R' with rising singer-songwriter UMI, American fans' love of the track helped it land on both the R&B/Hip-Hop Digital Song Sales chart and Hot R&B Songs chart on Billboard. This marked V's first time entering the R&B and hip-hop charts as a soloist.
The 33rd Seoul Music Awards took place on January 2, 2024, where V won a 'Main Award' at the show while Layover earned the honor of Fan Choice of the Year. It was V's first time nominated as a soloist at the show.
While getting the chance to show off his acting chops in IU's 'Love Wins All' video is an accomplishment, V's work in the visual delivered virtual results across platforms even with the limited promotion he was able to show.
Fans noted how music video photos of IU and V entered the Trending Topics on the Chinese social platform Weibo, earning more than 100 million views for their 'wedding'-themed photos. Meanwhile, multiple clips from the video have earned millions of views across TikTok, showcasing the broad appeal of the visual. Since its January 2024 unveiling, the 'Love Wins All' video has garnered more than 95 million views and continues to gain momentum month by month.
The 2024 Korea Brand Awards surveyed over 288,000 people across Korea and Vietnam to honor the celebrities and brands that experts and fans think are leading new trends. The 2024 ceremony took place on January 9, where V was honored with the Male Idol Variety Star award, thanks to his growing recognition across reality shows like In the Soop: Friendcation and two seasons of Jinny's Kitchen.
After the release of his solo single 'FRI(END)S' on March 15, 2024, the all-English song managed to top the Download Chart of South Korea's Circle Chart despite the star not being able to promote it actively.
Following its release, 'FRI(END)S' managed to secure the first-place spot on the popular live performance show M Countdown, where almost all current K-pop songs can win the coveted Number One of the week. Those with the highest mix of fan votes, downloads, album sales, and social media activity are named the winner for the week, and 'FRI(END)S' snatched the top title for two weeks despite V not being able to join on stage.
While BTS have been consistently taking home trophies from the iHeartRadio Music Awards since their first nomination in 2018, V landed his first win as a solo artist when Layover won Favorite Debut Album.
V's success with 'FRI(END)S' continued overseas as the track hit Number 13 on the U.K. Official Chart, surpassing his career-best Number 24 peak from 2023's 'Slow Dancing,' to become V's highest-charting song in the U.K. yet.
In an expansion of his creative offerings to the world, V released a 224-page hardcover photo book, Type 1, in July 2024. According to the announcement, the star was involved in every step of the process, from planning to production, with the book described as capturing 'V's moments of complete rest, revealing his comfortable and natural self as he takes a break from his busy schedule to enjoy some time alone.'
Despite needing to be absent during the 2023 and 2024 shows, the Fact Music Awards still awarded him at both ceremonies. In the best Music Category that has a winner for each season, 'Slow Dancing' won the award for Best Music - Fall in 2023, with 'FRI(END)S' winning the Best Music - Spring award in 2024, proving Kim Taehyung's music is one for all seasons.
V hit the 100-million mark on YouTube with 'Love Me Again.' Shortly after 1AM local time in Korea on August 3, 2024, the music video for Layover's first single, 'Love Me Again,' was confirmed to have surpassed 100 million views. The video hit the milestone in less than a year after its release in Summer of 2023.
The newly created Korea Grand Music Awards honored V at its first ceremony in November 2024 with the Trend of the Year in the Solo artist category. Alongside V, chart-topping singer and 2022 Forbes Korea Power Celebrity 40 honoree Lee Chanwon won Trend of the Year in the Trot singer category, rising girl group UNIS won in the Group category, and Park Jihyun was named Trend of the Year in the Rookie category.
After seven previous nominations in 2022 and 2023 at the MAMA Awards across categories in Album of the Year, Best Vocal Performance - Male Solo and Best OST, our V finally took home his first statue after being named in the Fans' Choice Top 10 - Male category for 2024. Even better: his band mates RM, Jimin and Jung Kook also were part of the Top 10 as well.
It's not often one of the world's biggest pop stars gets to drop a song with one of his besties, but 'Winter Ahead' allowed V and his personal friend Park Hyo Shin, a well-known balladeer in Korea, to team up for a seasonal jazz-pop collaboration.
Perhaps even more rare than duetting with your best friend would be duetting with your idol — especially if that idol has long passed away. But for a long-in-the-making project between V and the estate of the late Bing Crosby, the two singers were brought together to record a new take on the holiday classic, 'White Christmas.' V has long expressed his admiration for the crooning legend, which soon got the attention of the Crosby family, who shared their blessing and excitement for the release.
V has long shared his love for the Christmas season with multiple gifts of new music and holiday-themed tracks for fans. In December 2024, listeners delivered him two new presents when both his songs 'Winter Ahead' with Park Hyo Shin and 'White Christmas' with Bing Crosby went to Number One on Billboard's Holiday Digital Song Sales chart within a week of each other. No doubt, it was a lovely gift for the star's 29th birthday on December 30 that year.
On December 2, 2024, V shared the news that his beloved pet dog Yeontan had died in a heartfelt statement on his Instagram. Fans had watched Yeontan grow up with the group, with V even featuring his pet Pomeranian in the packaging and photoshoot for his Layover album.
While V could have chosen to keep such personal heartbreak a private matter, his words inspired fans to raise money and donate to the Korean Animal Welfare Association in Yeontan's name for V's birthday that year. The association thanked fans for donating 1.23 million Korean won (approximately $908 today) towards animal futures and stated that they would look forward to supporting V in the future as well.
While serving his country in the military, V also helped out by donating 200 million Korean won (approximately $147,504 today) to the Korea Red Cross to support recovery efforts following wildfires across the country in March 2025.
With just a handful of singles released in 2024, V still managed to earn a nomination at the first-ever Music Awards Japan in its Special Award: Oshi-Katsu Request Artist of the Year category, where he is competing among other major Asian acts like Tomorrow X Together from Korea, SB19 from the Philippines and more. The winners will be announced later this year — and should he win, maybe V can pick up the award in person.