In mid-June 2017, K-pop group Apink and K-pop singer Mina, from group Twice, received death threats, via social media and phone, respectively.

South Korea’s public broadcaster KBS has banned four songs from K-pop star Psy’s latest album from being broadcast due to their lyrics.

South Korean daily newspaper Hankook Ilbo revealed on 11 October 2016 that the South Korean government blacklisted 9,473 artists from receiving state support, including financial support, due to their political activity of either being critical of the current government or backing opposition politicians, reported The Korea Times on 12 October …

Officials from China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television have allegedly passed down “verbal orders” to TV stations that approvals for South Korean programmes or those featuring South Korean stars would not be granted for the time being, reported South China Morning Post on 2 August 2016. …

Korean television has banned K-pop star Jay Park’s latest music video due to its sexual imagery, The Korea Times reported. The video for Park’s lead single, ‘You Know,’ from his new album features Park dancing with fellow K-pop star HyunA. South Korean monitors gave the video a 19+ parental advisory …

Through Arts Council Korea, the Korean government allegedly attempts to censor cultural contents. Artists and their projects have been banned from government financial support for political reasons, reported Korea Herald on 22 September 2015. Yeo Jun-suk wrote for Korea Herald that lawmakers from the main opposition party have upped their …

The president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Lee Yong-woo, has resigned over the censorship of a painting which was included in the Gwangju Bienniale’s 20th anniversary exhibition ‘Sweet Dew—After 1980’ at the Gwangju Museum of Art. In an almost ironical contrast to the controversy which has erupted over the censorship …

The president of the Gwangju Biennale Foundation, Lee Yong-woo, has resigned over the censorship of a painting included in the Gwangju Bienniale‘s 20th anniversary exhibition, ‘Sweet Dew—After 1980’, at the Gwangju Museum of Art in South Korea. The offending artwork, a 32-foot-wide painting by Hong Seong-dam titled Sewol Owol, portrays Korean president Park …

Crayon Pop, the popular South Korean idol group, was banned from broadcasting its latest track on one of South Korea’s biggest networks. The reason? It contains the Japanese word ‘pika’. Source:  www.kotaku.com

The South Korean music style K-pop has become a success story of music export and glamour, but a long history of censorship and regulation still affects the music markets in South Korea. By Yoo Eun Lee, Global Voices Korean editor and founder of K-pop Decoder   Photo by Alexander William …