Korea’s Female Pop Icon Who Got Banned From Broadcasts For Being “Too Hot”

She was the queen of Korean pop’s renaissance era.
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Serah S. Cherrie
Serah S. Cherrie

The recent issue of MAMAMOO‘s Hwasa being reported to the police over some suggestive dance moves she did during her performance at the Sungkyungkwan University festival has reminded fans of another similarly bizarre story about a different female singer.

Kim Wan Sun, popularly dubbed the “Korean Madonna,” faced an incident reminiscent of the arbitrary propriety standards that Hwasa is facing today. Coincidentally, Kim shared the story during an episode of tvN‘s Dancing Queens on the Road, where she is castmates with the MAMAMOO maknae. The show followed five K-Pop divas of different generations, including Kim Wan Sun, Uhm Jung Hwa, Lee Hyori, BoA, and Hwasa, as they toured the country to perform at various venues and hang out with their fans.

Kim Wan Sun | @kimwansunflower/Instagram

During episode 4, when the cast was traveling to Gwangyang for a show, the singers started talking about their songs that won first place in music shows. Kim Wan Sun revealed that it wasn’t until her fifth album that she won first place on a show, taking aback the rest of the cast. Her earlier songs like “Dance in the Rhythms” and “Tonight” were huge hits, but they never won on music shows. When Uhm Jung Hwa asked what type of songs were winning music shows at that time, Kim answered with Noh Sa Yeon‘s “The Meeting.”

Uhm Jung Hwa, who was a contemporary of Kim Wan Sun, then revealed that during the ’80s, people considered dance music superficial, and only ballads or rock ballads were largely appreciated. Kim added that the phrase “dance music” didn’t even exist in the public lexicon back then.

In fact, Kim Wan Sun said that during those times, even the word “sexy” was not used in the popular vocabulary in Korea. So, she was often referred to as an “erotic” singer. Uhm Jung Hwa agreed that Kim’s debut in the industry was sensational because of her “sensual” stage persona.

Notably, it was only the songs Kim sang that were actually sensual because the singer herself was performing on stage covered from head to toe. Despite that, broadcasting stations actually deemed her to be “too erotic,” and she was suspended from appearing on TV for six months!

The cast members couldn’t contain their surprise at the absurdity of this ban, and Uhm Jung Hwa even broke into laughter, saying, “She was too hot for TV!” Lee Hyori, who is also known for her bold popstar image, responded by saying, “I’d love to be banned!”

After debuting in 1986, Kim Wan Sun is still active as a singer and entertainer. Though a lot of the things in the industry have changed over this long period, fans can’t help but compare how her broadcasting ban and the current controversy involving Hwasa reflect the same arbitrary standards female performers in Korea have been subjected to all long.

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