Roy Kim apologizes for ‘careless remarks’ at concert

South Korean singer Roy Kim on Sunday apologized for remarks during a concert that fans claimed were disrespectful to Jang Bum-joon of band Busker Busker.

“I apologize for acting carelessly and causing trouble... From now on, I will be more prudent with my words,” the 20-year-old singer said via Twitter. Kim claimed that he was also a fan of Jang, and that his words had “unintentionally” offended Jang’s fans.

Kim held a concert at Yonsei University in Seoul on Saturday, during which he sang a wedding song that included an excerpt from “Bridal Chorus” by 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. Fans of Busker Busker had said Jang recently used the tune in the chorus of his own wedding song, and claimed Kim had stolen the idea from him.

During the concert, Kim mentioned the accusation and said that he did not steal Jang’s idea, while admitting that he was inspired by Jang’s song.

“I did write the entire song all by myself. If it makes them (Busker Busker fans) feel any better, I’ll just mention his name every time I sing this song,” Kim said.

While Kim’s fans at the concert roared with laughter at the comments, they came off as sarcastic to others, especially Jang’s fans. Kim attempted to make amends the next day by apologizing to Jang during the second day of the concert.

On the sidelines of Kim’s alleged disrespect toward the fellow singer, a months-old debate reignited over whether the singer had plagiarized an underground musician’s song when writing the title song for his first album “Love Love Love.”

Roy Kim, the winner of popular TV talent show Superstar K4 in 2012, topped most local charts with his debut single “Spring Spring Spring” in April, but was soon accused of copying “Love is Canon” by a lesser-known artist Acoustic Rain.

On Monday, Kim’s fans and haters alike were at loggerheads online over whether the singer had copied the main theme of the acoustic ballad. Some netizens bombarded Kim’s radio program with requests for “Love is Canon.”

“If you really did not copy his song, then please play this song,” wrote one netizen.

This is not the first time a famous musician had been accused of stealing a melody from a relatively less-known artist. Earlier this year, Seoul court had ruled that singer and songwriter Park Jin-young had infringed the copyright of another songwriter, Kim Shin-il.



By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)