Sensible Censorship?

Following two court rulings, the Youth Protection Committee of South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said it would adopt a more “flexible approach” to the censorship of pop song lyrics.

The committee screens pop songs for content it deems “harmful to youth.” Those songs that are judged harmful are banned from broadcast and sale to people under 19 years of age.

One of the songs in question, “Another Day,” by the group The Ballad, was banned because of the line “I dream after falling asleep by getting drunk.”

The committee said that the line would encourage minors to drink.

In March, The Ballad’s management agency, SM Entertainment, filed a suit to revoke the ban, and last week the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in the agency’s favor, saying that it couldn’t be proved that such a lyric would encourage drinking.

Almost immediately, a similar suit, brought against the committee by the boy band Beast and its management, Cube Entertainment, was upheld by the court. Beast’s song, “On a Rainy Day,” was banned for the line, “I should stop drinking ’cause I’m drunk.”

As a result, the ministry says it will clarify the standards for evaluation. In principle, any song that depicts violence or sex as a result of drinking will be banned, as will any song that encourages the purchase of alcohol or cigarettes.