The members of one of the largest online fan clubs for the K-pop boy band EXO are threatening legal action against the organizers of a petition to the South Korean government to excuse the 12 members of the group, most of who are in their early 20s, from military service.

"Please help our EXO brothers become exempt from military service!" read the petition, which has sparked outrage among some fans.

"Instead of [the members of EXO], can't regular guys just add a few more years to their service instead? They can just think of it as being on a retreat a little longer. The EXO fan club is currently collecting signatures for a petition. Please sign to help our EXO brothers become exempt from service."

All eligible South Korean males between the ages of 18 and 35 must enroll for roughly two years of army service. The length of their mandatory enrollment changes by several months depending on which branch of the military that they serve in.

On Thursday, in a blistering indictment of the petition, the EXO online fan club EXO Planet announced their 100,000 members would not only not be signing the petition but are considering a defamation lawsuit.

"If someone is spreading false information with no evidence and ends up hurting or making things difficult for the members, we want to tell the people who are recklessly attacking EXO that our side will take legal action," the fan club's statement read.

The fan club statement also laid out the members' desire for the dozen members of EXO to do the right thing when it comes to their country's conscription law.

"Whether it's because of an anti-fan or a fan, because of that one person, EXO is being cast in a bad light on multiple portal sites, so we're writing this statement. We have absolutely no plans to sign a petition for the EXO members to get exempted from military service," the statement added.

"We will not hold back our support or words of encouragement for EXO if they make the right choices. If they ever go in the wrong direction, we'll be hurt, but we'll discipline them out of love in order for them to become more mature...we would like everyone to know that we have no involvement in this matter."