A few days ago, a popular girl group called Stellar released their music video for their new song ‘Vibrato’.
It has now become the centre of a debate over whether K-pop videos are becoming too provocative, as Stellar have sexy choreography and a lot of symbolism relating to female genitals. Many people are supportive of this because it is trying to break down barriers and challenge the double standard in the K-pop industry. Male K-pop idols are encouraged to tear their shirts off, tease the audience with their abs or thrusting hips, and are rarely reprimanded for it, whereas female idols get called on the slightest things and, of course, get called sluts for showing any skin. Also, a lot of the time groups are forced to change their choreography or costumes to be able to perform on the chart shows or at concerts.
So today, instead of giving any notice to the male idols or debating the double standard, we’re just going to celebrate the sexy ladies of K-pop in all their glory. I’m going to introduce you to some of the sexiest K-pop videos going back as far as the year 1999. A lot of these music videos have been rated 19+ or banned completely by the Korean music channels and the Korean government for having dance moves that are too sexy, revealing costumes or sexually suggestive content.
(We apologise for the quality of the first few, but please understand, they are old music videos!)
Uhm Junghwa – ‘Invitation’ (1999)
This was one of the first ever ‘sexy’ K-pop songs for a female solo artist. The lyrics are about a woman who has invited her man over to spend the night and is anticipating what will happen. It also caused a lot of controversy because she is shown getting a massage.
Park Jiyoon – ‘Adult Ceremony’ (2000)
This song is about a woman “coming of age”. Both the lyrics and the video were seen as controversial – “I know what you want, why are you hesitating, I am not a young girl anymore.” She was also one of the first to use a sexy concept to try catch a break in the industry and this song was very successful despite all of the controversy surrounding it.
Chae Yeon – ‘Two of Us’ (2004)
Chae Yeon wasn’t very popular until she released this catchy song, but it was seen as too racy for showing her back and exposed underwear, so it wasn’t allowed on TV until after 10pm on most channels. Her future music videos also received the same censorship for being too provocative and sexy.
Brown Eyed Girls – ‘Abracadabra’ (2009)
This was banned by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family for provocative BDSM themes, boob touching, and lesbian kissing, but this didn’t stop it from becoming ridiculously popular. Their ‘saucy dance’ is still one of the most well-known K-pop dances, even PSY used it in his video for ‘Gentleman‘.
Hyuna – ‘Change’ (2010)
Hyuna is definitely no stranger to having her videos rated 19+. Her solo debut ‘Change’ was deemed inappropriate to minors due to her provocative dancing. She refuses to give in, though; when told she had to change her dance and outfit for her song ‘Bubble Pop‘, she cancelled all her performances, because she didn’t agree with the censorship committee.
Gain – ‘Bloom’ (2012)
We don’t think we need to explain this one at all. You can definitely figure out why this video was slapped with the 19+ rating. Gain is a member of Brown Eyed Girls (see above) and is marketed as an ‘adult idol’ so she gets a little bit more free rein with her videos, but this was still banned by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family for obvious sexy reasons.
Rania – ‘DR Feel Good’ (2013)
This is definitely one of our favourites. Rania have always been seen to be ‘too racy’ with their dance moves and outfits. Their lyrics are also said to be sexually aggressive – “Strap me down into my chair, I’ve been feeling real bad”, which made a lot of conservative types very uncomfortable. They had to tweak their choreography to be able to perform on music shows. There’s also an English version of this song.
Afterschool – ‘First Love’ (2013)
Afterschool underwent 6 months of pole dancing training to pull off this fantastic concept. Strangely enough, this song doesn’t seem to have been hit with a ban, despite having pole dancing and scenes where they look topless. During promotions, the group said they were performing ‘pole art’, as they didn’t want to be associated with the R-rated version of pole dancing.
EXID – ‘Up and Down’ (2014)
While the video and lyrics themselves aren’t sexually suggestive in the slightest, EXID have come under fire for their thrusting pelvic dance and have been forced to adjust it while performing on certain shows. In their second video ‘Ah Yeah‘, they made fun of the censors by blurring out their pelvic movements.
Anda – ‘Touch’ (2015)
This quirky little number is another of the more recent attempts to try to push boundaries in such a conservative country. It has sexually suggestive lyrics and the video is very erotic. Also, in a time when Korea is struggling to come to terms with accepting different sexualities, she challenges the conservative view. We’d recommend reading this analysis to get the full picture.
So there you have it. Beautiful ladies, unashamed of their sexy selves. What’s your opinion? Do you agree with these videos and songs being banned or do you hope for more sexy concepts? Do you think they are over the top or tame by Western standards? Let us know in the comments!
