Dozens of fans gather to watch pop star Rain discharged from military after 21 months

July 10, 2013 at 8:10AM

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean pop sensation Rain is out of the military.

Under cloudy skies Wednesday, Rain fired off a crisp salute and thanked a large crowd of mostly media and women who'd gathered to commemorate his discharge after 21 months of mandatory service.

The fans held signs reading in Korean and English: "We waited for you" and "Rain's coming." One Japanese fan said she'd been waiting for more than a day to see the "entertainment soldier."

The 31-year-old served in an army unit that provides TV and radio programming that promotes the military.

Rain, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, has made seven albums and acted in several South Korean and Hollywood films. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2011.

He hasn't said what his future plans are.

South Korea requires all able-bodied men serve about two to three years in the military, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

about the writer

about the writer

More from Minnesota Star Tribune

See More
card image
J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS/The Minnesota Star Tribune

The "winners" have all been Turkeys, no matter the honor's name.

In this photo taken Monday, March 6, 2017, in San Francisco, released confidential files by The University of California of a sexual misconduct case, like this one against UC Santa Cruz Latin Studies professor Hector Perla is shown. Perla was accused of raping a student during a wine-tasting outing in June 2015. Some of the files are so heavily redacted that on many pages no words are visible. Perla is one of 113 UC employees found to have violated the system's sexual misconduct policies in rece