By Yun Suh-young
Hot pants, miniskirts, crop tops.
Scantily clad K-pop girl groups perform sexually-suggestive dances on stage and in music videos. Their evocative performances and outfits are drawing not only wows and shrieks from their fans but some concerns from viewers and censors as well.
State monitors like the Korea Communications Standards Commission (KOCSC) do not approve of the way they dress and dance on stage, though their sexed-up performances are one of elements that have spread “hallyu” or the Korean pop culture wave.
According to the yardstick used by the censorship agency, some of the clothing the girl groups wear is too provocative to be shown on television.
The latest case to raise the eyebrows of censors was the performance by HyunA, a member of girl group 4 Minute, in August.
The KOCSC reckoned the clothes for her solo performance “Bubble Pop” were too “revealing” and the scene where she danced with a male dancer was too “provocative” to be shown on TV during prime time when teenagers are watching.
In the show HyunA was wearing short pants barely covering her buttocks and a crop top revealing her belly.
The commission recommended changes in the stage outfit and some parts of the dance.
In response, HyunA suspended all future stage performances of her song, claiming that she could not continue performing the song without the necessary dance moves.
The following day she resumed her performance with another of her new songs, “Just Follow.” The stage outfit was changed to a black suit to dispel future controversy.
The stage costume controversy is not limited to HyunA. Other popular female group singers have worn “provocative” outfits that caused a stir.
Sistar, Dalshabet and Girls Day have all worn revealing clothing during their performances on stage and have received some negative responses from some groups in the public as too revealing.
The KOCSC recently issued an “advisory warning” to the agencies of the pop stars, advising them to self-censor the outfits in order not to offend viewers. The advisory was in the form of administrative guidance and not legally binding.
The commission said it had received complaints from some viewers that “it was uncomfortable to watch female singers in revealing outfits on TV during early evening hours on Friday and afternoon hours during the weekend when the whole family watched together.”
The production crews of the singers agreed to make the revisions but were, at the same time, bitter about the strict regulations regarding stage outfits.
“Can’t they just see the stage as simply being a ‘stage’? We’re living in an era where K-pop is going global. Such regulations are just too old-fashioned I think,” said an official from an agency representing a female idol group.
A would-be singer at Cube Entertainment said that she disagreed with the strong regulations but also to the provocative outfits.
“I think outfits are also art. It’s a part of the performance that perfects the music. But it’s true that singers these days go beyond the acceptable standard by wearing provocative clothes. Such outfits prevent the viewer from really concentrating on the music,” she said.
She said the problem is that agencies think that’s just part of the “concept” whereas the regulators think it’s not.
“Censors tend to entirely disbelieve in the artistry of the outfits. So I think there needs to be a middle ground,” she said. “Too much regulation violates the freedom of expression but at the same time singers should know that provocative outfits only distort the essence of the music.”