This Is The Only K-Pop Group That Was Included On Former President Park Geun Hye’s Cultural Blacklist

Former President Park Geun Hye’s blacklist only had one K-Pop idol group.

Former President Park Geun Hye‘s blacklist had the boyband 24K listed, making the group the only K-Pop group to be included on the list..

“The blacklist, whose existence emerged in 2016, was aimed at starving artists of state subsidies and private funding and placing them under state surveillance. Many had voiced support for opposition parties, or had criticized Park [Geun Hye] and her policies or her late dictator father, Park Chung-hee.” — The Straits Times

 

24K’s agency Choeun Entertainment suspects they were on the list because they helped current President Moon Jae In with his campaign in 2012.

At the time, he was the leader of the opposition and running for president against then-President Park Geun Hye.

 

The band sang the vocals for a campaign song for Moon Jae In, performed the song, and appeared in a video for it as well.

As a result, 5 of the 6 members (Cory, Kisu, Seokjune, Byungho, and Daeil) and their manager at the time were added to the blacklist.

 

A statement from their agency revealed they experienced many hardships after their debut.

“Perhaps it’s because of the blacklist, they were unable to appear almost any shows.” — Choeun Entertainment Representative

 

Because of this, 24K focused on promotions outside of Korea.

They held a lot of shows in Europe, the U.S., and South America as well. The love they received in South America was so great they even recorded a greeting for Latin America independence days!

 

With Moon Jae In in power and the blacklist abolished, 24K will hopefully have an easier time promoting their next comeback set to drop this month!

With the added recognition from their MIXNINE appearance, many are expecting good results from this comeback!

Source: Seoul Kyongyang and The Straits Times