Lady Gaga Not Suitable For Minors in South Korea

Accused of “satanic” dance moves and “intolerable”outfits, the cult of Lady Gaga has struck a wrong chord with the moral guardians of South Korea’s youth ahead of her world tour.

The pop star has had her Seoul concert re-rated as only suitable for over 18-year-olds, by South Korea’s Media Rating Board.

Marco Werman gets more from the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Seoul.

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Marco Werman: Officials in South Korea weren’t shy about taking a moral stand this week. They banned all people under the age of 18 from attending a Lady Gaga concert in Seoul when government deemed Lady Gaga’s music and provocative stage antics to be harmful for young people. The concert went ahead several hours ago and I’m guessing there are some pretty upset little monsters in the South Korean capital tonight. The BBC’s Lucy Williamson is in Seoul where she says reaction is mixed.

Lucy Williamson: We’ve been talking to a few people here in the center of town about what they make of the ban and opinion here has been pretty split, I have to say, even amongst fairly young people. Some believe the ban is actually a good thing and that it protects South Korea’s youth, but I’ve got to say it’s quite an unusual move by the South Korean State Authorities here and it has been controversial with a few people.

Werman: It makes South Korea seem pretty conservative.

Williamson: South Korea is pretty conservative underneath. When you walk around the capital here, it’s very vibrant, it feels very secular, very 21st century. There are advertising video screens on top of the skyscrapers. There are martini bars; there is great coffee. People are walking around in short skirts. It feels like a modern, vibrant capital. It doesn’t feel conservative but, just under the surface, there is a lot of Christian values. There’s a lot of even a more ancient Confucian conservatism that really comes through on certain issues. So, while a lot of the younger people are behaving in very different ways to their parents and grandparents, there is a kind of policing of society that goes on behind the scenes. I think what’s unusual about this is that it’s not going on behind the scenes this time; it really is out there in the open.

Werman: So, Lady Gaga played her gig tonight but, when was the ban on the under 18s actually announced?

Williamson: The ban was announced a few days back now, but the concert tonight of course has been the focal point of this. I was told that the operators of the concert, the organizers of the concert, were checking identification cards on the door just to make sure that policy was really enforced and that no one under 18 was allowed in. Lady Gaga, having ridden into the concert on a real horse, did address this ban on the under 18s and said it would be an over 18s event. “This stadium is a womb,” she said, “and we will be re-born.” It’s that kind of religious imagery that’s got her into trouble here along with the kind of perceived promiscuity, the perceived promotion of homosexuality.

Werman: I imagine still, Lucy, that there’s some pretty disappointed teenagers in Seoul today.

Williamson: I imagine there are, yes. In fact, the ones who got caught early were the ones who had used their parents’ cards to buy their tickets here. Some credit card companies here allowed adults to give children their own cards, so those were very easily traced. The worry was that a lot of people would simply turn up and be found on the night to be under aged. We’re not quite sure what effect that might have had on the audience tonight.

Werman: So, South Korean kids aren’t averse to workarounds on this law. Are they hip to fake IDs?

Williamson: I imagine some of them are. Actually, the South Korean kids seem to be a fairly law-abiding lot. Certainly nothing to compete with what I grew up with, but there is a sense that the society is changing. I have to say that people are paying lip-service to the old conservative morals, you know, paying lip-service to what their parents and grandparents would expect, but at the same time a lot of them are going out and doing exactly what they want.

Werman: The BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Seoul, thank you so much.

Williamson: Thanks.

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I can you hear you Korea. I’m shaking.

— Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) April 27, 2012

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