A Japanese castle was launched on the stage to show’Earl of Korea’… Absurd KBS

On the 11th, a Japanese-style castle appeared as a stage background image in the Korean traditional music-based music program’Chosun Pop Again’, which was aired by KBS as a New Year’s plan, causing controversy. [유튜브 캡처]

KBS was engulfed in a controversy over why color. In the Korean traditional music-based music program aired during the Lunar New Year holidays, Japanese-style architecture appeared on the stage background image. As criticism spread along with the controversy over the license fee hike, KBS switched to private videos on the current portal site and YouTube.

On the 11th, a Japanese-style castle appeared as a stage background image in the Korean traditional music-based music program’Chosun Pop Again’ aired by KBS as a New Year’s plan, causing controversy. [유튜브 캡처]

The scene in which the controversy over the color was raised appeared on the 11th in’Chosun Pop Again’, which KBS aired as a New Year special. At the time of airing, this program attracted attention by showing the so-called’Chosun Pop’, which combines traditional music with various genres of music with the intention of showing the world the spirit of Korea.

However, during the performance of the band’Inalchi’, which caused the’K-Hung Frenzy’ around the world with the song’Bom Coming Down’, an image that looks like a Japanese castle appeared on the stage background. The song’Yeonari’ performed by Inalchi at that time contains the contents of Pansori Sugungga, and it is presumed that the image of the castle was used to express the dragon palace.

The appearance of Hiroshima Castle in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. [독자제공]

Late on the 17th, online suspicion was raised that the image of the castle was not a Japanese castle like Japan’s’Osaka Castle’ or’Himeji Castle’. The pavilion made of several floors stands out, reminiscent of the castle tower, a typical Japanese style of architecture. Netizens said, “How can I use a Japanese castle as a background even though it is not a Korean castle no matter how?” It is unsense”.

In various online communities and SNS (social network service), the article titled’Insane KBS’ spread rapidly. In this article, along with the captured image of the video, an article stating “Abolition of KBS license fee is the answer.” Netizens responded by saying, “Is the value of the subscription fee a betrayer?” “If you’re going to do something about it, take off the name tag of the public broadcaster”. Some suspected that the image of the same Japanese character was used in the 2021 Korean Traditional Music Song Song Hanmadang, which aired as a New Year special on the same day.

A scene from the ‘2021 Korean Traditional Music Song Hanmadang’, which aired on KBS as a New Year special on the 11th. An image presumed to be Japanese can be seen in the background of the stage. [KBS 홈페이지 캡처]

Currently, the service for replays containing the stage video has been suspended on portal sites and YouTube. When you search for the stage of’Yeonari’ of’Chosun Pop Again’, a guide saying “This video has been deleted or has been suspended by the channel operator” appears. Regarding the controversy, a KBS official said in a call with the JoongAng Ilbo, “There seems to have been a mistake,” and “We are confirming how the image was used through an internal meeting with the officials who were in charge of the current production.”

The controversy over KBS is embarrassing from the perspective of KBS, where several negative factors have been overlapped while promoting the recent license fee increase. On January 24th, on the birthday of President Moon Jae-in, suspicion of political bias was raised over the selection of’Song to the moon’ by the KBS Open Concert. Earlier, in the anonymous community’Blind’, a post titled “I have a lot of dissatisfaction with our company” was posted as the ID of KBS employees about the controversy surrounding KBS’s billion-dollar salary and license fee hike, and there was a stir.

Reporter Lee Garam [email protected]