Top K-pop star Rain joins Army

EUIJEONGBU, South Korea, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korean pop singer and actor Rain entered a boot camp on Tuesday amid a barrage of camera flashes from journalists to begin his mandatory military service.
Rain, 29, whose real name is Jung Ji-hoon, is one of the most popular male celebrities in Korea and is widely known across Asia.



"Thank you for coming. ... I'll see you later," he said smiling brightly and bowing politely to about 1,000 journalists and his fans gathering in front of the main gate of the boot camp in Euijeongbu, 23 kilometers north of Seoul, to see him.
Some of the fans, including hundreds from Japan, Taiwan and China and other Asian nations, burst into tears when the singer walked into the camp after bidding farewell.
The singer is scheduled to go through about eight weeks of basic training at the boot camp and finish his remaining period of his 22-month-long military service in another place.