BLK Sexually Harassed By Japanese Comedian In Underwear

K-Pop group BLK was forced to stare at a semi-naked comedian’s crotch before bending closer to sign his shirt at KCON 2018 JAPAN, and it’s caused a massive debate about whether it was comedy or sexual harassment.

BLK is an “acrobat” group under BYKING Entertainment which debuted in November 2017. Former Pledis Entertainment trainee, SEVENTEEN pre-member and MIXNINE contestant MingMing is in the group.

In a video uploaded to social media, the seven BLK boys were shocked when comedian Yasudebu (also known as Tonikaku Akarui Yasumura) pointed to his crotch. They remained professional and laughed it off, but they were also clearly uncomfortable.

KCON is an annual Korean wave convention held in different locations across the world; the event took place from 13-15 April in Japan and was attended by artists including SEVENTEEN, Wanna One, MOMOLAND, Samuel, Monsta X, Stray Kids, BLK and SF9.

Netizens are saying that even allowing for cultural differences or comedy, his actions were unacceptable, especially in light of the #MeToo movement in South Korea.

“I understand that Japan has some very lewd comedians and that is their thing; however, things went from lighthearted to extremely awkward when he pointed to his crotch area and the boys had to look and bend forward so they can sign his shirt. I can only guess they felt uncomfortable with him doing that even if it was just for laughs. If this was a girl group this wouldn’t have even been acceptable. Yes, I understand that there are many cultural differences in comedy. But because of these differences it makes the situation worse when a group consisting of Korean and Chinese members are put in a situation like this where they are not exposed to this type of comedy regularly. It should also not matter what gender the group is they should not be in a situation that makes them this uncomfortable. Even more so that MNET allowed the comedian to go into the meet and greet/high touch and fans had to see something they did not want to see. It’s a simple case of sexual harassment and in light of the #MeToo movement actively happening in South Korea the company should have been more responsible regardless of where the event takes place. Even if they tried to tone him down by making him wear a shirt, this is not something an idol group should go through at their place of work. If normal fans are not allowed to enter any event dressed like this, then why should a comedian get a pass because of an interview he is doing. It saddens me that you can clearly see the group BLK tried to keep a professional-like attitude and I applaud them for that. BLK is a fairly new group with a new fan base so they really don’t have a voice.” — @pledis7teen

Yasudebu is famous in Japan for his mostly naked poses, and is part of a sub-unit of Japanese comedians who get laughs through taking their clothes off.

He has been in the industry for almost 15 years, but didn’t hit it big until he bared all in his “Don’t worry, I’m wearing…” pose – he would start the music, get in position on stage, and as the music finished, enter his “looks like I’m butt naked” pose. To calm the fears of the audience, he would say “Don’t worry, I’m wearing…” He followed in the footsteps of comedians like Yoshio Kojima, who debuted in 2007 wearing a rainbow speedo to show off his buff body.

While nudity might be considered a bit more hilarious in Japan, Koreans treat it very differently and are not as comfortable when confronted by it.

Netizens expressed their disgust with the comedian’s actions and are demanding he apologize to the BLK members.

• “This is definitely sexual harassment… Even if you do it to a big group, it still matters… Let’s voice this out!”

• “Disgusting!! Why did MNET even allowed such things to happen in the first place! I think both the comedian and MNET owe an apology to BLK and their fans!”

• “They clearly look uncomfortable about what he did. He needs to apologize.”

• “That’s obviously sexual harassment, even K-Pop Japanese fans can’t take this for a joke 😤.”