Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has decided to make Psy’s song ‘Right Now‘ X-rated in Korea, and Korean people are expressing their displeasure.

Since ‘Right Now’ has attracted attention worldwide along with ‘Gangnam Style’, it is expected that Psy might release this song as his U.S. single by rewriting it. Psy said on September 29 via his twitter, “I heard the music video of ‘Right Now’ is getting attention on Youtube. It is a nice chance to follow up with this song!”

The song ‘Right Now’ was released in 2010, and it has attracted about 6 million viewers on Youtube with its distinctive lyrics and dance.

However, watching this music video on Youtube requires confirmation that the viewer is an adult, not only for Koreans, but also for foreigners. This is because Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has made the song X-rated, so Psy also had to open this music video only for people aged over 18.

The ministry, which was built in 2001 to protect the rights of women, teenagers, and children, made ‘Right Now’ X-rated because of a series of slang terms that were used in the song.

Regarding the ministry’s decision, the signature collection campaign by Korean Internet users is being held online, asking the ministry to withdraw its decision.

The campaign started on September 16, and as of October 1, about 1,200 people signed for this campaign.

The Internet user “ChungDoSeYou,” who led this campaign, said, “Because of the ministry’s decision, people are having trouble with watching the music video of ‘Right Now.’ I believe this song and music video have a possibility to become popular in the foreign market. Even some comments on Youtube said this song is better than Gangnam Style.”

He added, “The ministry’s decision is an outdated view which is limiting the chance to promote K-pop to people worldwide.”

This was not the first time Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has been blamed for an outdated view. Since the ministry was established, many Korean songs and music videos have become X-rated for their lyrics. For example, the song ‘SulYiYa,’ which can be translated alcohol in English, by a Korean singer Jang Hye-jin, became X-rated because the song talks about alcohol, which is bad for teenagers. The song ‘Americano’ also was banned from teenagers because the song has the word cigarette in its lyrics.

The website of ministry is flooded with Korean Internet users’ frustrated comments. Surnamed Ko said, “The ministry is ruining the right to pursue people’s happiness by applying outdated standard to K-pop songs,” while surnamed Jung said, “I understand the purpose of ministry to protect teenagers from vulgar content, but in Psy’s case, I think the ministry has gone too far.”

Image Courtesy of  KOREA.NET – Official page of the Republic of Korea

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About the author

Tae-jun Kang
Tae-jun Kang graduated from Korea University with a business degree as well as a minor in Russian language and literature. He had worked as a riot police in Korea for 2 years before he started his degree. This gave him an opportunity to focus on the social issues which he overlooked before, and spiked his interest in the field of journalism. In 2011, he worked for Voice of America Seoul News Center for nine months as an intern, building his goal to become an international journalist. You can reach him by sending an email to taejun.kang@toonarimedia.com

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