Tag: K-pop

Why K-Pop Group Was Mistaken As Prostitutes at Los Angeles Airport

It appears the language barrier is what initially led to the misunderstanding at LAX of a K-Pop group being mistakenly investigated as prostitutes.  If anything their promotion company should be happy about this arrest because of all the media attention the no name group has now received:

Newbie K-pop girl group Oh My Girl returned to Incheon International Airport on Friday morning after being held for 15 hours at Los Angeles International Airport. WM Entertainment, the eight-member girl group’s agency, said the girl group was held at the U.S. airport because they were mistaken for prostitutes.

“We have appointed a lawyer in the states because we need a valid explanation for the unfair detainment,” a person working for WM Entertainment said.   WM added that Oh My Girl left for Los Angeles on Wednesday for photo shoot.

“A person working at immigration asked about the relationship between the girl group members and staff, and one of the staff members said ‘sister,’” a person working at WM told multiple local news agencies. “And the customs office thought it was weird because the girl group and staff members are not related by blood. The customs office also paid attention to a lot of props and clothes.”

Staff members reportedly tried to explain that they were visiting Los Angeles as singers, but they could not correct the misunderstanding at immigration, and the group and staff members’ smartphones were confiscated.
In the end, the girl group could not enter the United States and returned to Korea.
Oh My Girl released their first debut single in April, but the K-pop act is still largely unknown in the music scene.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

 

H-Bomb Claim Reportedly Led to Cancellation of North Korean Girl Band Concert In China

We now know why Kim Jong-un’s girl band had to cancel their Beijing performance:

Hyon Song-wol (L), leader of North Korea’s all-female band, arrives at a Beijing hotel on Dec. 11, 2015. The Moranbong Band came to China the previous day for what will be its first performance abroad, a move that North Korea watchers say is a gesture by Pyongyang to mend somewhat strained ties with Beijing. Hyon was once rumored to have been executed for distributing pornographic videotapes. The Moranbong Band, formed by the North’s current leader Kim Jong-un in 2012, will perform for three days in the Chinese capital. (Yonhap)

China had decided to send officials of lower rank to a concert by the all-female North Korean propaganda band in response to the North’s leader Kim Jong-un hinting earlier last week that Pyongyang had developed a hydrogen bomb, a source in Beijing close to the situation said Sunday.

The decision might have been related to the sudden cancellation of the concert by the North Korean side, said the source, who got the information from a Chinese government official with knowledge of the situation.

The Moranbong Band, formed in 2012 following an order from leader Kim, had been scheduled to perform for three days in Beijing starting Saturday, in what was seen as a fresh sign of warming relations between the two allies.

However, the band abruptly headed home hours before the invitation-only concert began Saturday.  [Yonhap]

You can read the rest at the link.

K-Pop Girl Groups Compete for Popularity With ROK Soldiers

I had to roll my eyes when the article describes a two hour drive as a “tough journey”:

K-Pop Group Red Velvet is popular with ROK Soldiers.

It was a tough journey. It took more than two hours for the eight-member girl group to reach the destination. The road was not well-paved, and some sections were full of twists and turns. Their performance was not broadcast on TV, and the girl group was also paid a lot less for the gig compared with other performances hosted by private event organizers.

To put it simply, it was one of the least attractive jobs out there for entertainment groups, but 9Muses could not turn down the offer.

“Many people think of 9Muses as guntongnyeong, and they have been much loved by soldiers for a long period of time,” a person who works for Star Empire Entertainment said. “Thus, we try not to say no when we get offers from the military.

“In addition, popularity among young soldiers helps expand their fandom among music fans in their 20s.”

Guntongnyeong is a compound word made up of the Korean word gun, which means military, and daetongnyeong, which means president.

The neologism is often used when describing girl groups that are popular among members of the military.

And the title of guntongnyeong is much coveted among girl groups because “popularity within the military is often used to measure one’s popularity,” according to another industry insider.

Because of this, many girl groups take time to perform at military bases, which are usually located in remote areas of the country.

Recently, the JoongAng Ilbo wanted to identify which girl group among all-female acts were the No. 1 choice among soldiers. The newspaper ran a survey of 466 soldiers who were on their way back to their posts after taking leave.

It turned out that the eight-member girl group AOA received the most number of votes among survey responses. The respondents who voted for AOA included soldiers of various ranks.  [Joong Ang Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but you would think they would make more effort to appeal to US soldiers as well in an effort to make their image look more international.

IU Criticized for Lyrics that Sexualize a Children’s Book

Maybe in Korean the lyrics sound worse than what it sounds in English because after reading this article I don’t see what the big deal is:

A Brazilian novel first published more than 40 years ago has unexpectedly become a highly sought-after read, after the Korean pop star IU was accused of sexualising the story of its five-year-old protagonist in one of her songs.

José Mauro de Vasconcelos’s My Sweet Orange Tree, first published in Portuguese in 1968 and in English in 1970, is set in Rio de Janeiro and follows the life of the boy Zeze, as he gets up to mischief and is mistreated. “Everyone beats him. If you look softhearted he will tell you it’s revolting the way they beat on a little kid. Can you believe him when he says he’s only six? No! The boy is a liar. He is five years old,” runs the copy on the first UK edition.

My Sweet Orange Tree has been out of print in English for years, but Abebooks.com has reported that the novel became its most searched-for title late last week after controversy enveloped IU’s pop song Zeze, which is based on the story. The bookseller’s Richard Davies said that My Sweet Orange Tree was “a much-loved book in South Korea and often studied in schools”.

According to the Korea Times, the book’s Korean publisher has issued a statement saying that: “We regret the way the five-year-old character is portrayed as a sexual object.”

The paper quotes lines from IU’s song which run: “Zeze, come on up the tree quick and kiss the leaves, don’t be naughty and don’t hurt the tree, come up the tree and get the youngest leaf … you are innocent but shrewd, transparent but dirty and there is no way of knowing what’s living inside.”  [The Guardian]

You can read the rest at the link, but IU has since apologized for the lyrics, but says she had no intention of sexualizing Zeze.

K-Pop Girl Falls Eight Times During One Performance, But Keeps Dancing

It was a tough day at work for the K-Pop group GFriend which saw band member Yuju fall eight times during the course of a song.  Another singer also wiped out during the performance as well.  It looks like someone needs to get some traction on that stage:

During a performance Saturday in South Korea, one of the members of girlband GFriend took a number of painful looking falls onstage.

Yuju, easily identified by a white knee guard, fell eight times over the course of one song, and another member SinB took a big spill in the middle of the stage.  [Mashable]

You can read more at the link.