Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Massive Attack's tribute to Seo Taiji draws censorship fight of its own in Incheon
Massive Attack performs with guest vocalist Elizabeth Fraser at the 2026 Pentaport Rock Festival in Incheon's Songdo Moonlight Festival Park, Aug. 1. Courtesy of Incheon City
By Jung Min-ho
City councilor calls for audit of rock festival organizers over Gwangju Uprising video
When Massive Attack covered Seo Taiji & Boys' "Regret of the Times" at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Aug. 1, the British band framed it as a tribute to a song that had once defied authoritarian control. Now, a Korean city councilor wants to use a government audit to investigate the band over the performance, a move critics say risks reviving the very dynamic the song was written to resist.
"Regret of the Times," released by Seo Taiji & Boys in 1995, was itself once at the center of a censorship battle. The group refused to comply with a government pre-screening requirement for the track, resulting in a standoff that contributed to the eventual abolition of Korea's pre-release music censorship system.
Massive Attack's cover, performed partly in the original Korean as homage and partly in English for a wider audience, was explicitly framed by the band as an act of solidarity with that legacy.
"'Regret of the Times' took on an authoritarian government and won. In 2026, as corporate absorption and the censorship of artists for political expression looms large again, it resonates as a signal lesson," the Bristol-based band wrote in a social media post introducing the cover.
"We see this cover as an act of continuity, revival and solidarity with Seo Taiji & Boys — K-pop progenitor — whose work defied state censorship while creating a global genre."
A video played during the performance included footage of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, alongside separate footage condemning Israel's actions in Gaza. The Gwangju footage was not an exclusive video prepared for the Korea show, but has been part of Massive Attack's live repertoire since May.
An image from Massive Attack’s set at the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Aug. 1 shows a screen with the Korean caption: "In 1980, the United States supported the civilian massacre carried out by the Korean government in Gwangju." Captured from YouTube
That footage is now at the center of a political dispute. Lee Beom-seok, a member of Incheon Metropolitan Council and a member of the opposition People Power Party, has vowed to raise the issue in an upcoming administrative audit of the Incheon Tourism Organization, which organizes the annual festival hosted by the city.
Lee pointed to a caption displayed during the performance claiming the U.S. "supported the civilian massacre carried out by the Korean government" — a claim historians say is not backed by direct evidence.
"'The United States supported the civilian massacre during May 18.' There is only one group in the world that spreads this false narrative: North Korea," Lee said in a social media post.
He cited Korea’s Special Act on the May 18 Democratization Movement, noting that Article 8 criminalizes the dissemination of false information about the uprising through media, online networks or the screening of visual materials, with penalties of up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won ($35,000). The liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea pushed the bill through the National Assembly in 2020.
“The Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival is a flagship event for the city, with around 2 billion won in municipal funds injected every year," he said. "When citizens’ tax money is being spent, there can be no compromise.”
The controversy in Incheon is not the band's first brush with government pushback over political content this year. Singapore authorities banned two of the band's members from reentering the city-state after they closed a concert there with a Palestinian flag and slogans supporting Palestinians amid the war in Gaza. Singapore has strict laws prohibiting the public display of foreign flags or symbols at speeches or assemblies without prior authorization.
Jamie Finn, chief editor of Korean indie music publication Debaser Magazine, said the backlash appeared to be aimed at the wrong target.
“They did imply that, but not too much. It was mostly focused on the Korean government,” Finn said, referring to the Gwangju footage. “They very much made the U.S. implicit in the Palestine stuff.”
Finn, a foreign resident who traveled from Busan for the festival, described the powerful audience experience he witnessed rather than a politically divisive one.
“I thought it was good and exciting to see Korean references in the show. It was interesting to see an international artist do some research about Korean social issues,” he said.
“It was difficult because I thought it was brilliant and beautiful but also really bleak. You could feel the collective sadness from the audience ... I think it was amazing though and the best performance of the weekend.”