NCT's Ten Dodges Military Service, New Solo Single To Release This Week

by Jessica Rapir / Apr 04, 2018 03:39 AM EDT

NCT member Ten do not need to serve the military as Thailand military has officially exempted the K-pop idol. Photo by: NCT / Facebook

NCT member Ten does not need to train and serve the military in his home country. The Thai military has officially exempted the K-pop idol from serving.

Like in South Korea, men in Thailand are also obligated to serve in the military. However, there is a slight difference in the process of how the military picks its new recruits. In Thailand, men who are eligible are ordered to participate in the annual military lottery.

There are two balls in the lottery. Those who get the red ball are required to enlist within a year for 24-month mandatory service. Those who get the black ball, on the other hand, are exempt from serving in the military. Men can also volunteer to serve instead of participating in the lottery.

How NCT Member Ten Got Military Service Exemption

Over the weekend, Thai national Ten traveled back to his homeland to participate in the lottery. Reports indicate that Ten's previous knee injury deem him unfit for mandatory military service.

The exemption means Ten doesn't need to leave his music career to serve his country, unlike his fellow idols. GOT7 member BamBam, who is also from Thailand, is expected to take part in the military lottery next week. Several Korean idols have taken a leave of absence from their respective bands this year to serve the military.

NCT's Ten New Single

Ten is set to release a new solo track titled "New Heroes." This is part of the band's SM Station project. Ten's single will be the last in the SM Station 2 series. SM Town shared four promo posters for the track, one of which shows Ten in what seems to be a street in Los Angeles. "New Heroes" will be out on April 6 at 6 p.m. KST.

NCT has 18 members that are divided into units. Ten belongs to the NCT U sub-unit. Joining him are five other members of the band: Taeil, Taeyong, Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Mark. Earlier this year, NCT U released their second single, "Baby Don't Stop", which was sang by Taeyong and Ten.

NCT also recently dropped its comeback album, NCT 2018: Empathy. It featured all 18 members of the K-pop band for the first time, including its three new members. The album debutted at No. 9 in Billboard's Social 50 chart and quickly climbed to the No. 3 spot last week.

On Sunday, NTC also released a music video for the track "Yestoday," from the same new album. It features band members: Taeyong, Mark, Lucas, and Doyoung. At the moment, the MV has more than two million views on YouTube.