On the August 11th episode of KBS 2TV’s ‘Happy Together‘, 2AM’s Jo Kwon, INFINITE’s Sung Jong, and MBLAQ’s Lee Joon performed a dance cover of HyunA’s “Bubble Pop“, which was recently banned by the Korean Communications Standards Commission for being “too sexually suggestive”.
Some netizens were outraged, as they didn’t understand why other celebrities were permitted to dance the choreography on show programs, while HyunA was not.
KBS stated in their response, “The Korean Communications Standards Commission reported that HyunA dancing with male dancers while dressed in short, revealing outfits was too sexually suggestive, and it was considered to be highly inappropriate for minors.”
They continued, “‘Happy Together’ is a program that airs at 11PM KST, a time that would be more unlikely for minors to be watching tv; it would only pose a problem in the event of a rerun during the day.”
“The guests were also dressed very casually, very different from the skimpy and revealing clothing HyunA performed in, and therefore the idol stars dancing to “Bubble Pop” on ‘Happy Together’ will not become an issue. We do not wish to go against the KCC regarding this politically sensitive issue, and will proceed accordingly to the guidelines that they have gave us.”
In Korea, restrictions are put on TV programs in order to make them “safer” for viewing by minors during the day from 7:00AM~9PM during the week, and 7:00AM~10PM during weekends.
Those in the entertainment business expressed their opposition to KBS’s vague and flimsy standards. Comments like, “There are so many other female artists who incorporate provocative dances into their performance… we don’t understand why HyunA is the only one being attacked. She is no longer a minor; this should be a non-issue.”
KBS plans on gathering the opinions of Korean entertainment program producers with regards to this issue, to minimize situations like this from happening again.
