Seoul, South Korea - K-pop stars BTS are taking a break that may last several years as members of the group enlist for South Korean military service.

The band's agency BigHit Music announced the news to sad fans on Monday, sharing that members of the group are "honored to serve."

"Since the creation of BTS over ten years ago, the band has risen to international success, broken records, and catapulted K-pop into the global stratosphere," the company said.

"BigHit Music have focused [on] the milestone moment when it would be possible to respect the needs of the country and for these healthy young men to serve with their countrymen, and that's now."

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BigHit went on to say that Jin, the band's oldest member who turns 30 in December, will "initiate the process" as the first member to enlist at the end of October. The other members will follow in time "based on their own individual plans," and the band is expected to make a comeback in the year 2025.

In South Korea, all males aged 18 to 28 are required to serve in the military for about two years, and those who don't are subject to a prison sentence.

Fans and officials have attempted to get an exception made for BTS, but the country's Ministry of Defense have decided against it.

BTS announced in June that they were taking a break to focus on their own solo careers, also saying that the band had reached a "rough patch."