韩国鸡龙——在观看仪仗队耍步枪，以及“哼哼哈哈”地进行炫目的跆拳道表演时，观众礼貌地报以掌声。但直到这支军中乐队现身，他们才真正兴奋起来。

　　The big draw: Jung Yun-ho, a soldier otherwise known as U-Know Yunho, one of South Korea’s most famous K-pop stars. He burst onto the stage of a military runway here in the mountains south of Seoul, wearing a black T-shirt emblazoned with “Korea Army” on the back.

　　吸引众多目光的是士兵郑允浩(Jung Yunho)，或称瑜卤允浩(U-Know Yunho)——韩国最有名的歌星之一。他突然登上在首尔以南山区一条飞机跑道上搭建的这个舞台，身上的黑色T恤背面印有“韩国陆军”的字样。

　　“This is the band I organized in the army,” Mr. Jung shouted, gesturing to the other soldier-musicians behind him as 2,500 civilian fans quivered and shrieked in delight.

　　“这是我在军队里组建的乐队，”郑允浩指着他身后的其他几名士兵乐手高声喊道。2500名平民粉丝在下面兴奋地颤抖和尖叫着。

　　The audience waved red balloons and paper fans with pictures of Mr. Jung’s face as the group launched into “Mirotic,” one of many hits by TVXQ, the pop act in which U-Know performed before he began serving his mandatory term in the army.

　　乐队开始演唱《魔咒》(Mirotic)，观众们挥舞着红色气球和印有郑允浩头像的纸扇。《魔咒》是流行乐团东方神起(TVXQ)的诸多热门曲目之一。在服兵之役前，郑允浩是这个乐团的一员。

　　While armies around the world have marching bands and musical troupes, South Korea may have the trendiest ones of all.

　　虽然世界各国的军队都有军乐队和乐团，但韩国军队可能是最时髦的。

　　In South Korea, where every able-bodied man 18 to 35 years old must complete a 21-month stint in the armed forces, the rules make no exceptions for pop idols, no matter how much their fans may miss them and how much income they stand to lose while enlisted. And in a nation where powerful talent agencies routinely recruit new singers and dancers to create pop groups, there is a constant stream of celebrities eligible for military duty.

　　在韩国，所有18至35岁的健全男子都必须在军队里完成21个月的训练，流行偶像也不例外——不管粉丝多么想念他们，不管他们在入伍期间会少赚多少钱。在这个国家，强大的经纪公司经常招募新歌手和舞者，组建流行团体，所以符合兵役条件的明星源源不绝。

　　Currently, about 630,000 soldiers are serving active duty, a vestige of the Korean War and a continuing reminder of the country’s vigilance against the hostile nation to the north.

　　目前，韩国约有63万现役军人，这是朝鲜战争遗留的后果，也是在不断提醒人们，该国对北方敌国保持警惕。

　　The corps includes a handful of K-pop celebrities whose prime performing years fall within the conscription window. The stars used to be routinely assigned to a separate celebrity unit, but the army disbanded it three years ago, after a string of public scandals involving K-pop soldiers.

　　韩国军队中有几个正好处在演艺黄金时期被应征入伍的韩国流行乐(K-pop)明星。这些明星过去通常被安排在一个单独的明星小队里，但是三年前军队遣散了这个小队，因为之前出现了一系列涉及韩国流行乐明星士兵的公开丑闻。

　　Today, most of the stars serve in military bands that perform periodically for their fellow soldiers. But once a year, the army hosts a six-day propaganda bonanza where civilian fans can see their favorite pop idols free of charge. The fans are also treated to hand-to-hand combat drills, parachute landings and displays of tanks, rocket launchers and Chinook helicopters.

　　如今，大部分明星在军中乐队里服役，定期为其他士兵表演。不过，军队每年举行一次为期六天的宣传活动，这是平民粉丝的幸事，他们可以免费看到自己最喜欢的流行偶像。粉丝们还能观看徒手搏斗演习、跳伞，以及坦克、火箭发射器和奇努克直升机的展示。

　　Many citizens resent military service as an unwanted interruption to the education and careers of the country’s young men. With some politicians also debating whether the military should convert to a voluntary service, the K-pop bands serve as syrupy agitprop and a potential recruiting tool.

　　很多韩国公民怨恨兵役，认为它是对该国年轻男子教育和事业的不必要干扰。有些政治人士也在讨论是否应该改为志愿兵役制，韩国流行乐队则充当了煽情的政治宣传和潜在的征募工具。

　　“The military can come across as a scary organization,” said Col. Lee Jong-eung, the director of the annual festival, which drew more than a million visitors this month. “But when these celebrities come to the army, everybody knows them, and we are asking them to unleash their talent to soften the image of the army.”

　　“军队可能看上去是个可怕的组织，”本次年度活动的负责人李钟应上校（Lee Jong-eung，音）说。本月，这场活动吸引了100多万名观众。“但是当这些名人参军时，谁都认识他们，我们正让他们发挥自己的才华，软化军队的形象。”

　　K-pop has also been used in the campaign of psychological warfare that South Korea has waged against North Korea. Last year, South Korea blasted pop songs by acts like Apink and BigBang over loudspeakers in the Demilitarized Zone, leading the North to threaten “all-out war” if the broadcasts did not cease.

　　韩国流行乐也被韩国用在向朝鲜发起的心理战中。去年，韩国在非军事区(Demilitarized Zone)通过扩音喇叭播放Apink和BigBang等演出团体的流行歌曲。对此，朝鲜威胁称，如果不停止广播，将发动“全面战争”。

　　At the same time, K-pop music has been one of South Korea’s most successful exports, helping to link fans across Asia and beyond. Fans traveled from Japan, China, Germany, Hungary and Morocco to see the K-pop performers at the military festival this year.

　　与此同时，韩国流行乐已成为韩国最成功的出口产品之一，把亚洲各地甚至全世界的粉丝联系在一起。粉丝们从日本、中国、德国、匈牙利和摩洛哥赶来观看今年军队活动中的韩国流行乐表演者。

　　“It’s easy sociocultural currency for Koreans to transmit outside of their borders,” said Katharine H. S. Moon, a professor of political science at Wellesley College. “In the north, it’s used as a weapon to stick it to the enemy, and within its own nation and among friends and fans, it’s a very positive bonding tool.”

　　“它是韩国人在国境之外易于传播的社会文化通货，”卫斯理女子学院(Wellesley College)的政治学教授文馨善(Katharine H. S. Moon)称，“在北部，它被用作刺向敌人的武器，而在韩国国内，在朋友和粉丝之间，它是非常正面的联系工具。”

　　Yet K-pop stars have had a checkered record in the army, with some trying to evade conscription and others taking advantage of their celebrity status to flout army rules. Although military service may be unpopular in South Korea, the public expects all men to fulfill their civic duty and harshly judges those who do not. (Women are not required to serve.)

　　不过，韩国流行乐明星们在军队中的表现参差不齐，有些试图逃避兵役，还有些利用自己的明星地位公然藐视军纪。虽然兵役在韩国可能不受欢迎，但公众期待所有男性履行自己的公民义务，严厉批评那些不履行义务的人（女性不必服兵役）。

　　In 2002, Yoo Seung-jun, one of South Korea’s biggest-selling pop artists, obtained American citizenship just a few months before he was scheduled to enlist in the army. He was barred from South Korea and just last month lost a lawsuit in which he demanded the right to re-enter the country.

　　2002年，韩国最畅销的流行艺人刘承俊(Yoo Seung-jun)在原定入伍时间的前几个月取得了美国公民身份。韩国禁止他入境，就在上个月，他输掉了要求重回韩国的诉讼。

　　Two K-pop performers were jailed for 10 days two years ago after they were arrested during their military service for visiting massage parlors that also sold sexual services. Another star soldier was disciplined after he sneaked out to visit his girlfriend, a famous actress, while on duty.

　　两年前，两名韩国流行乐艺人因在服役期间去提供色情服务的按摩店而被捕，被判入狱10天。另一位明星士兵因在公务期间溜出去看望自己的著名演员女友而受到处罚。

　　Many in the public suspect the stars are still afforded privileges denied the typical soldier. At the festival this month, the five celebrity performers retreated to an air-conditioned tent for bottles of green plum juice after the show, while the backup band members sat backstage on the asphalt eating snacks.

　　很多民众怀疑，这些明星依然享受普通士兵没有的特权。在本月的活动中，五位明星表演者在演出结束后退到一个有空调的帐篷里喝瓶装青梅汁，而伴奏乐队成员们则坐在后台的柏油路上吃快餐。

　　An army spokesman denied repeated requests to interview any of the celebrities, saying their images were still protected by the talent agencies that represent them as civilians. A spokeswoman for SM Entertainment — the agency that represents U-Know Yunho and three members of the K-pop band SuperJunior who are currently in the army and performed at the festival — said that because of their army service the pop artists would not be available for interviews.

　　一位军队发言人多次拒绝了要求采访这些明星的请求，称他们的形象仍受经纪公司保护，而那些经纪公司是把他们作为平民来代理的。SM娱乐公司(SM Entertainment)是瑜卤允浩以及韩国流行乐团Super Junior的经纪公司，后者有三名成员正在服役，且在本次活动中做了表演。该公司的一位女发言人称，由于这些流行艺人正在服兵役，所以不接受采访。

　　Cho Gae-hyuk, a soldier who composed a short musical about the Korean War for the festival and shared a barracks room with five of the K-pop stars for four months, said he was surprised by their work ethic.

　　士兵赵开赫（Cho Gae-hyuk，音）为本次活动创作了一部关于朝鲜战争的音乐短剧，他和五名韩国流行乐明星在一间营房里共住了四个月。他说，他们的职业道德令他感到吃惊。

　　“We were with them every day,” he said. “They are very disciplined and are more like soldiers than the younger soldiers.”

　　“我们每天都跟他们在一起，”他说，“他们非常遵守纪律，比年轻一些的士兵更像士兵。”

　　Observers of the K-pop scene say some of the stars shrewdly use army service to their advantage. Although South Koreans may not like the military draft in reality, they romanticize the army culturally, gobbling up pictures of their idols in uniform. “Descendants of the Sun,” a TV melodrama about a special forces captain and his doctor girlfriend, was a huge hit when it aired this year.

　　韩国流行乐的观察者称，有些明星聪明地利用兵役为自己服务。虽然韩国人可能不喜欢现实中的兵役，但他们在文化中把军队浪漫化，贪婪地欣赏偶像们穿军装的照片。电视剧《太阳的后裔》讲述的是一名特种部队军官和他的医生女友的故事，今年播出时引起极大轰动。

　　Lee Seung-gi, a solo pop artist who served as master of ceremonies at the festival, went further than most of his peers and is serving in a special forces unit. He told fans that he had overcome his fear of heights during a parachute jump in army training.

　　单飞的流行艺人李昇基(Lee Seung-gi)是本次活动的主持人，他比大部分同伴更进一步，在特种部队服役。他对粉丝们说，他在军队的一次跳伞训练中克服了恐高症。

　　“Outside the military, I would not have challenged myself to do these things,” Mr. Lee said.

　　“在军队之外，我不会挑战自己去做这些事，”李说。

　　Some fans who had come primarily to see their idols — without the typical $100-plus cost for concert tickets — came away impressed by the more overtly military demonstrations.

　　有些粉丝本来主要是来看自己的偶像——不必花费通常需要100多美元的音乐会门票——离开时，令他们印象深刻的却是活动中更加明显的军事展示。

　　“Normally we don’t know what the soldiers do, and we always thought the image of the soldiers were so dry and scary,” said Park Eun-kyung, 36, a fan of U-know Yunho. “But they seem to be so hard-driving. I felt like my impression of them had softened.”

　　“通常我们不知道士兵们都做什么，我们一直以为士兵的形象枯燥可怕，”瑜卤允浩的粉丝、36岁的朴恩卿（Park Eun-kyung，音）说，“不过他们似乎充满进取精神。我感觉他们的印象在我心目中变得温和了。”