Regulations on Kpop: What Happened to Psy and Hyuna?

There are regulations on Kpop by various institutions including broadcasting companies and governmental organizations. Some Korean songs have been judged as being harmful to juveniles and banned from public TV networks even though the public still wonder if the regulations are proper or not. Let's look over what kind of songs faced sanctions and what was the problem.

Psy's 'Right Now' had been judged as a harmful song to juveniles. The lyrics of 'Right Now' was reason for that. 'Right Now' is the song about a man who has a strong will to enjoy life like mad. The lyrics like "The life is like strong liquor" and other lyrics describing will to enjoy life have faced sactions by Korean Ministry of Gender Equalty and Family. Do you think it was too much?

 

Well, the Ministry withdrew sanctions to the song later, and sanctions to the other 300 songs which had been banned from broadcasting were withdrawn too. The mega hit of Psy's 'Gangnam Style' has become a crucial trigger! People insisted that the sanctions to 'Right Now' have to be withdrawn to make the song a worldwide hit, and the Ministry had to step back.

 

Hyuna's 'Very Hot' is another song which has been banned from broadcasting. The song was condemned as unqualified song for broadcasting. Korean broadcasting companies, MBC and KBS, announced that the song was disqualified. The official from the broadcasting company said "The song was disqualified because it gives prominence to specific SNS. Not only SNS, but also other brands can't be included in the lyrics. It can make effectiveness of advertising."

 

It's not easy to meet the broadcasting companies' standards, huh? The lyrics of 'Very Hot' include the word 'Ka-talk' which is short for 'Kakao Talk', the application for smartphone.

Here's a special case. Let's look over G-Dragon's case. He set his song 'That XX' as adults only voluntarily. Unlike most singers who want their songs to be released to everybody including minors, G-Dragon didn't struggle for it. He has a firm faith with his song, and declared that 'That XX' will be adults only even before the deliberation by Korean Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. It is because of the word 'XX'. It is pronounced as 'Saekki' in the song which can be translated into 'bugger'. By using the word, G-Dragon expressed a man's feeling towards another man who is loved by a woman he loves.

Instead, he set the music video of 'That XX' as U certificate. On the music video, the problematic lyrics is substituted with 'Beep' sound. When G-Dragon shows live performance of the song on the stage, he sings the lyric as 'X'.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Gender Equalty and Family has been planning for a lawmaking about prohibiting girl group's excessive revealing performance. The official from the Ministry stated, "You can not describe minor girl group members as sex object. The actions like zooming in minor members'  thighs and hips would be illegal."

However, there still is public opinion that it can violate freedom of expression to tighten regulations on Kpop. So, what do you think of it? Do you think the authority has to ease the restrictions?