BTS’ Suga reportedly graces Actor Ma Dong-Seok’s boxing gym launch event, leaving a signature on the wall

BTS member Suga's signature on the wall of Don Lee's new boxing club has been the talk of the town since March 16, 2024. Ma Dong-Seok aka Don Lee unveiled his new venture, Big Punch Boxing Club, in Seoul and posted pictures of them on his Instagram story. One of those exclusive snippets was of a wall that adorned signatures from all the Korean celebrities that had visited his club before.

Amidst the sea of celeb signatures, fans noticed the autograph by the D-DAY rapper-songwriter which caused an unaverted online ruckus. Having enlisted in the South Korean military on September 22, 2023, Suga has been under the radar for a long time. His only appearance so far has been on December 11 and 12 when BTS members Namjoon, Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook enlisted in the military.

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BTS Suga's recent update via Don Lee's Instagram story cheered his fandom

The initial picture that is typically connected to action hero Don Lee, who is originally known as Ma Dong-Seok in South Korea, is his strong punch in action movies.

In Train to Busan (2016), he uses his bare hands to beat down zombies, while in The Roundup (2023) series, he masterfully subdues a band of thugs, and in Badland Hunters (2023), he single-handedly defeats a large group of infected humans to protect his people.

Recently, the action star—who was also seen as Gilgamesh on the big screen of the high-budgeted film Eternals of the Marvel Cinematic Universe—opened a new boxing gym in Gangnam, Big Punch Boxing Club. Meanwhile, Suga's signature on the wall of the boxing club has caused several BTS ARMY to speculate whether the idol had been learning boxing prior to his enlistment.

It is a well-known fact in the BTS ARMY that Suga has been an avid student and enthusiast of Judo and Taekwondo. The rapper and music producer had previously mentioned how he had bulked up in 2021 due to his Judo practices and was asked by his team of stylists to lose weight and muscles to fit into his clothes.

However, Suga—a man of many hobbies—has never been upfront about his sportive endeavors lately. Due to his shoulder injury, the BTS rapper and music producer had somewhat refrained from excessive physical combative sports, although he was back at it again in 2018. Hence, ARMYs conjectured if the Life Goes On rapper-songwriter had been sparring in his free time before enlistment.

It is crucial to note that in 2022, during BTS' Festa dinner on June 14, the band members highlighted Suga being insurmountable busy with several things such as learning English, hip hop dance form, martial arts, and more. Meanwhile, it is yet unknown whether Don Lee's new gym was operational before the official inauguration on March 16, 2024, or Suga just attended the club during his off weekend.

For the unversed, due to his shoulder injury, Suga could not enlist in the South Korean military as a regular recruit rather he enrolled as a public service employee as per the country's law. Hence, his service period is 21 months instead of the regular 18 months that is currently being carried out by his band members.

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More about BTS Suga's mandated military public service

Since he is a public service employee, Suga is entitled to two weekly offs every week and can visit his family on those days. According to the rules of the service industry and organization, the duty schedules and times for social service or public service people are divided into three categories: day work, day and night work, and camp work.

Monday through Friday, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm local time, is when day labor is completed. When on night duty, one adheres to the previously set duty schedule by the service director. The Korea Herald states that Social work Personnel may substitute their four weeks of basic military training with community work. This is not to be confused with the social service training program offered by the Military Manpower Administration.

Social service members are discharged from active duty as reservists after completing basic military training, unlike members of the Air Force, Marines, and South Korean Army (and the same applies to reserve forces after that).

They must serve for 21 months out of a year. However, they are not considered troops but rather civilians. Public sector and social service workers are also permitted to camp, drive, and take two days off from work every week in addition to leaving the house each day.

Additionally, after a year on the job, social service staff may request a change of workplace. The National Intelligence Service mandates a competitive screening procedure for Community Service Administrators.

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BTS member Min Yoon-gi aka Suga is reported to return in June 2025 along with his bandmates Kim Nam-joon, Kim Tae-hyung, Park Jim-in, and Jeon Jung-kook, who would also be discharged from the military at the same time.