The government plans to impose an R-rating on visual materials that evoke sexual images of underage female entertainers by zooming in on the chest, bottoms and other suggestive areas.
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on Tuesday put up a public notification of the revision to the Youth Protection Law.
The measure is a part of efforts to protect underage entertainers from being depicted as sexual objects as well as minors who watch them perform, officials said.
The new standard is an additional clause to the existing criteria that restrict entertainment programs that are “sexually provocative” and “inappropriate and harmful for teenagers.”
If the plan takes effect, possibly in December, monitoring committees will have legal grounds to impose age limits on concerts, films and music videos that reveal sensitive areas of the bodies of teenage celebrities, the ministry said.
“The government is drawing a big picture and state censorship agencies will introduce detailed criteria later based on the revised law,” said an official of the ministry. The ministry plans to finalize the plan after gathering ideas from experts and going through a legislative review.
However, the plan is expected to face a backlash from K-pop fans and the entertainment industry for its ambiguous standard. The new clause states it would impose the age limit on programs that “excessively expose the body” and “depict them (performers) as sexual objects.”
But industry insiders argue the government’s standard could be subjective and inconsistent because it doesn’t specify the exact nature and length of shots that would go against the rule. K-pop fans also have been criticizing the government for restricting artists’ freedom of expression.
Last month, some fans expressed their opposition to a new regulation introduced by the Korea Communication Standards Commission.
The censorship agency said it would take disciplinary action against any program that has minor idols wearing outfits that show excessive skin and are overly sexually suggestive.
By Cho Chung-un (
christory@heraldcorp.com)
