It’s OK To Be X – Censorship Of Queer Themes In Kpop

With queer content being increasingly more restricted online for example through Meta’s new policies this article will look at how music videos with queer themes are being restricted in South Korea and how it affects the already scarce open queer expression in the industry. 

According to the Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net 2024 index South Korea’s internet is classified as ‘Partly Free’ with good internet access but strong governmental control. The South Korean Broadcasting Standards Regulations bind broadcasters to respect human rights and the diversity of expression but also include several topics that should not be broadcasted such as vulgar language, explicit content or excessive yelling that may cause discomfort. According to these regulations, South Korean broadcasting companies can deem Kpop songs or music videos ineligible to broadcast and ban the content from their platforms and music shows, which are influential outlets within Kpop. In the first quarter of 2026, one of South Korea’s biggest broadcasting companies, KBS, deemed 70 songs ineligible to broadcast and 1738 eligible. The two most common reasons for deeming a song ineligible were lyrics containing swears, profanity, and vulgar expressions (38%) and mentioning of brands (21%). Other reasons were lyrics being overly suggestive, mention of substances, physical or mental abuse, singing style being excessively noisy and disorderly and promoting anti-social or unhealthy values. The reasons are stated very vaguely (simply as lyrics containing swear, profanity, and vulgar expressions) and do not always mention specific lines that are found to be problematic.  The vague language of the regulations gives the law a lot of room for interpretation. Even songs from big groups like BTS or Black Pink have been deemed ineligible for broadcasting for vulgar language and the use of brand names. The review process used by South Korean broadcasters for determining broadcasting eligibility have been criticized for lacking transparency and being unfair and inconsistent.

The song “Island” by the group Winner from 2017 was deemed ineligible to broadcast by KBS due to “depicting sexual intercourse between a man and a woman or homosexuality, obscene content”. The line that made KBS find this song ineligible is stated in their decision of ineligibility as: Like shaking a cocktail (Hey), I want to mix it up with you on the sofa (Hey)). The song’s lyrics also features lines such as “Come, come on my, come on my girl (Come on!)” and some interpret the lyrics as being about a relationship between a boy and a girl. Some fans say that they did not notice the line KBS found problematic or understand how KBS thought it featured homosexuality.

In 2022 the openly gay Kpop boy group Lionesses released the single “It’s OK to be me”. The music review team on the South Korean broadcasting company MBC found that they were unable to broadcast the song due to “homosexuality”. The MBC gave the group feedback and instructions for resubmitting an edited version of the song with the references to homosexuality removed. The group decided that they could not comply with those directives because MBC’s ruling of the song as ineligible to broadcast due to homosexuality was not in compliance with the Broadcast Advertising Act. After the group posted the MBC’s ruling of the song as ineligible, MBC reviewed the song again and found the song eligible for broadcasting. MBC also apologized to the group for what had happened during the review process and promised to take measures to prevent the same thing from happening again. 

On November 5, 2025 the group Xlov, that has a stated genderless concept, released the album Uxlxve with the title track “Rizz”. The track was deemed ineligible for overly suggestive lyrics. The lines that could be interpreted as suggestive were “Tryin’ to taste your juice now”. The song isn’t marked as explicit on Spotify. Some fans are concerned that the ban was because of the line “Take it slow, boy” due to its same-sex implication. 

In 2021, the boy group OnlyOneOf released the song “libidO”. OnlyOneOf is a boy group previously known for making songs, choreos and music videos that display sensuality. The music video for “libidO” was picked by Rolling stones India as the best Korean music video of the year. The magazine described the music video as depicting same-sex relationships through touches, intimate looks and sexual tension and praised it for breaking industry boundaries and highlighting LGBTQ topics. For the performance of “libidO” on Music Bank the choreography was modified to remove same sex implications.

A way for Korean artists to round the censoring of broadcasting companies is through other platforms such as YouTube. However, online videos can also be censored by the Korea Media Rating board who can give certain videos a 19+ rating which can only be accessed by age verification through your personal ID number. The 19+ rating for video content is defined in the South Korean Film and Video Classification Standards as “Not Suitable for Youth: The content and degree of expression regarding the item are specific, direct, and explicit, making it inappropriate for youth to view.” 2025 out of the 3,458 domestic music videos in Korea 51 were deemed unsuitable for minors (19+). In 2018 the openly gay idol Holland released a music video for his song “Neverland” that got rated 19+ for showing a same sex kiss. Holland’s other music video “I’m not Afraid” also contains a same sex kiss and was also rated 19+ but after Holland tweeted about the rating, it was removed. 

Many of the few well known openly or implicitly queer acts within Kpop have had their content restricted or deemed ineligible to broadcast some with the explicit motivation for displaying homosexuality; despite homosexuality not being stated in the Broadcasting Standards Regulations as a forbidden theme to broadcast. Some ratings or ineligibility rulings have also been retracted in retrospect after online release. The retracted or modified rulings, along with reasons not grounded in the Broadcasting Standards Regulations bring further weight to the criticism of vague regulatory formulations, as well a lack of transparency and the absence of rules necessary for fair and consistent rulings. In context with South Korea’s conservative stance along with limited legal protection regarding queer issues, queer Kpop artists are particularly vulnerable to targeted censorship. With queer themes already being treated cautiously in South Korea and within Kpop, restricting many of the few instances of queer expression, especially by the groups that are more openly queer may further enforce the industry’s caution, aversion and self-censoring for queer acts and queer themes in songs. Such targeted censoring against queer acts risks diminishing the diversity of expression the Broadcasting Standards Regulations is trying to protect.