Why Seventeen’s Mingyu starts military service before Seungkwan and Dino but returns last

Dubai: Pledis Entertainment confirmed on Monday that the last three Seventeen members will begin their mandatory service this autumn, closing a process that started two years ago.

Mingyu begins alternative service on 10 September. Seungkwan and Dino enlist together in the Army's military band on 26 October.

That completes the group. Every eligible member will be serving by the end of October.

The bit causing confusion

Mingyu starts six weeks before Seungkwan and Dino. He will also be the last one back.

The reason is the length of the two systems. Active-duty Army service in South Korea runs 18 months. Alternative service, where conscripts work in public institutions rather than in uniform, runs 21 months.

Three extra months is enough to flip the order entirely. Seungkwan and Dino, enlisting in late October on an 18-month term, come out ahead of Mingyu, who started earlier on a 21-month one.

He is the last name on the list. That is why fans have spent the day working out dates.

Which means the group cannot be complete again until Mingyu finishes. Twenty-one months from 10 September 2026 puts that around June 2028, roughly two months after Seungkwan and Dino return in late April.

Seventeen as thirteen, on one stage, is a 2028 proposition.

What is alternative service

Pledis has not given a reason, and it is worth being clear about that.

In South Korea, service type is assigned by the Military Manpower Administration following a physical examination, which grades conscripts from one to seven. Grades one to three are eligible for active duty. Grade four is assigned to social service. It is not a choice the individual makes.

Fans have pointed to Mingyu's back. He first spoke publicly about back pain in 2016, and it worsened considerably by 2023, with reports of chronic lower back problems that affected his schedule. Discussion on Korean forums today noted that his disc issues have been known for the better part of a decade, and that the outcome surprised nobody who had been following closely.

None of that has been confirmed by the agency, and it should be reported as fan explanation rather than fact.

The full picture

Completed: Jeonghan, alternative service from September 2024 to June 2025 

Currently serving: Wonwoo, social service since April 2025; Woozi and Hoshi, active duty since September 2025; Vernon, alternative service since 20 August

Beginning shortly: DK, active duty on 8 September; Mingyu, alternative service on 10 September; Seungkwan and Dino, Army military band on 26 October 

Exempt: S.Coups, Joshua, Jun, The8

What Pledis has asked

The agency requested that fans stay away from the enlistment sites, noting that other recruits and their families will be present.

There will be no official event on the day Mingyu's service begins or when he reports to the training centre, and Pledis specifically asked fans not to visit his place of alternative service.

What happens to the group

Content, rather than activity.

"They will continue to connect with Carat through a variety of content prepared in advance," Pledis said, referring to material recorded before the members leave.

The label has taken the same approach with previous enlistments, releasing pre-recorded content through the absences. Fans have been directed to Weverse to send messages of support.