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 …

Sun Mu is not the artist’s actual name. It’s a nom de plume that uses a combination of two Korean words that translate to ‘The Absence of Borders’. It not only represents what he feels is the transcendence of art but also the literal military demarcation line that keeps the …

Newsletter from Article 19, published at article19.org on 17 July 2013: Art, in any form, constitutes a key medium through which information and ideas are imparted and received. Artist Alert, launched by ARTICLE 19 in 2008, highlights cases of artists around the world whose right to freedom of expression has …

A South Korean tv station has banned Psy’s music video ‘Gentleman’, allegedly because the rapper can be seen abusing public property, kicking a cone which says ‘no parking’. According to the state-funded KBS, the video clip goes against its standards as a public broadcaster. KBS stated that they have banned …

A new South Korean bill requires every music video to be rated prior to upload. Failure to comply will result in up to two years in prison or a hefty fine, reported Global Voices on 20 August 2012. Artists and South Korean net users have labeled it a new form …

  American pop singer Lady Gaga’s upcoming Seoul concert has been restricted to over-18s by the Korea Media Rating Board, as the Gender Ministry considers one of her songs, ‘Just Dance’ which is to be performed at the show, as “inappropriate” for minors, reported The Korea Herald. The Korean Association …

  The South Korean Ministry of Gender Equality & Family has caused distress amongst fans in recent months for a series of bans they’ve made on songs they considered ‘hazardous media’ to the youth. In this context, a representative clarified that a total of 2,607 songs have been banned by …

“In the history of Korean music, the 1970s was the darkest era. So many songs were banned, and so many musicians had to give up music,” writes Kim Seon-joo in a column in The Hankyoreh where he describes the era in the background of the banned songs. By Kim Seon-joo, …

The Supreme Court in South Korea has ruled that possessing instrumental music with titles praising communist North Korea is a crime, reported Radio New Zealand. Read the full story here: Radio New Zealand – 08 November 2010: ‘Banned: music with titles praising North Korea’      

Because the top-selling Korean hip hop group Epik High talks about social issues, the South Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism has tried to censor their songs, tells the group in an interview with The Korea Times Epik High is a three-member hip-hop group whose fourth album ‘Remapping the Human …