LOS ANGELES, U.S.A. – All eight members of a new girl K-pop
girl band, traveling for an album cover shoot in the United States, were
detained at Los Angeles airport on suspicion that they might be sex workers,
their agency said Friday (Dec 11).
The eight-member band, Oh My Girl, were held for 15 hours on
Thursday before being released, after which they flew back to South Korea.
Their agency WM Entertainment released a statement saying the LA immigration
authorities had gone through the band’s costumes and props.
“Then, probably because of their young age, they seem to
have mistaken them as sex workers,” the statement said, without elaborating.
- The agency said it was taking legal advice in the United States as to whether the band’s detention was lawful. There might also have been an issue with the type of visa the band members were holding, as they were also booked to perform at a gala event in Los Angeles on Saturday.
Oh My Girl was only formed in March this year and released
its debut single in April. South Korea’s K-pop scene, which has been exported
with enormous success across Asia and beyond.
This bands are dominated by young girl and
boy whose members are sometimes as young as 13 or 14 years old.
In 2012, the South Korean authorities took steps to curb
over-sexualised performances threatening to slap R-ratings on films, music
videos and TV shows that placed an exaggerated sexual emphasis on young singers
and bands they feature.
Source: AFP
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