Restricted song played openly at Seoul Plaza

With winter vacation in full swing, children and youths are accompanying their parents to the skating rink at the Seoul Plaza from early hours in the morning.

What kind of turned the tide was the playing of songs that are R19, that is confined to those who are 19 years or older, due to their content, especially those which accompanied alcoholic beverage advertisements.

On Monday afternoon, such music was played at 10-minute intervals. The songs included “Tonight,” a song by the group DJ DOC which has been designated as R19 by the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs.

The lyrics of the song go something like this: I want to spend this night with you, Feel my touch and close your eyes. When you can no longer resist the twinkle of my eyes, hug me tightly.

While it is not illegal for juniors to listen to such songs, they do contain contents which are inappropriate for minors.

Would you want your young children to hear verses like “Have another drink with me. If straight soju is too strong for you, I will mix it up with something else.”?

On the part of skating rink operators, they said they simply play songs that are requested and that more care will be taken to screen some of the songs.