Rockers drop trousers, raise public ire

In an apparent first for Korean television, two rock musicians exposed themselves during a live broadcast Saturday afternoon, leading to a public uproar and an apology from the MBC network. The musicians are being tested for drugs.
The incident happened around 4 p.m. during a live entertainment show called “Music Camp.” An underground punk band called Rux was performing, and were joined onstage by two facepainted musicians from another underground band called The Couch.
At some point, the young men from The Couch pulled their pants down and danced with their genitals exposed. The nudity was aired uncensored for about six seconds.
MBC immediately aired an apology after the incident, and posted a similar statement on its Web site. “We are deeply sorry about the incident,” the online statement read. “Since it was a live broadcast, it was impossible to control the situation.”
The apologies did not stop the angry phone calls to MBC and postings on its Web site, however.
“An apology is not enough,” read one comment on MBC’s online bulletin board. “The audience is mostly teenagers. How are you going to compensate for their trauma?”
The two musicians were booked without detention on charges of offending public decency. Police ordered them to provide urine samples, which tested negative for evidence of drug use. Police sent samples of their hair to the National Institute of Scientific Investigation for further drug testing.
Police said the musicians told them that they had often exposed themselves during shows in the Hongdae college neighborhood. But music critic Park Jun-heum said, “I’ve attended many music performances in Hongdae clubs, but have neither seen nor heard of such behavior.”
MBC held an emergency meeting yesterday and decided to suspend broadcasts of “Music Camp” and punish the producers.

by Choi Min-woo