The K-pop group Oh My Girl experienced sexual harassment during a university festival in Chungcheongnam-do.
The incident occurred when water bottles that the members had drunk from were offered as prizes for a talent show.
Oh My Girl had a 30-minute performance before the festival host initiated a talent show, inviting male students to perform on stage and giving them water bottles, which the girl group had drunk from. Videos of the scene went viral, sparking controversy among netizens.
The day after, the host apologized through the university student council’s SNS account: “I apologize for distributing the water that Oh My Girl drank to students at the end of the festival. I mistakenly thought it would be a memorable gesture, but it caused discomfort.”
He also mentioned that the original prizes for the talent show were different and did not include the girl group’s water bottles.
“I sincerely apologize for my immature actions,” he said. “This incident was due to my poor judgment, so please direct your criticism at me, not the students. The students appearing in the video are being affected, so please stop sharing the videos,” he added.
South Korea implements strict laws against sexual harassment. In their Supreme Court’s definition, sexual harassment is “an act against the public sexual morals, objectively incurring sexual humiliation or disgust to normal people.”
