The Penis Exposing Incident That Changed Korean Music And Disbanded A Group
As many know, Korea has several weekly music shows that artists attend to promote their music, one of them being Show! Music Core.
However, the show was previously known as Live Music Camp, but changed to the format we currently have in 2005, after an incident many call the worst day in Korean live broadcast history.
Indie bands were on the rise in Korea at the time, and MBC invited groups to perform during a special show segment. Band Rux were one such group, and for the Saturday, 30 July 2005 edition, performed on the show.
Rux invited several other indie bands to perform with them to make for a special stage, and things went well until SPiKY BRATS‘ Oh Chang Rae and Couch‘ Shin Hyun Bum decided to take it to a whole other level by stripping on stage. Instead of stripping off their shirts like one might assume, the two band members took off their bottoms, leaving their genitals completely exposed.
The show, which was live broadcast to the audience at the time, in addition to those watching in person, quickly attempted to move shots from the stage, but it was too late. Despite apologies from the then-MCs, the program was cancelled, and the two band members were arrested and tested for drugs.
Neither tested positive and were given two years of probation, while Rux also faced consequences for being the group performing at the time.
After the transition, MBC’s broadcasts were delayed to prevent an incident like this from happening again.
SPiKY BRATS appears to still be active, having performed at various festivals in 2025, though Oh Chang Rae appears not to be in the current lineup.
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The band Couch disbanded after the incident, while Won Jong Hee of Rux caused the event to resurface in 2024 when he shared an apology on YouTube for the incident. Rux also continued on after the incident, with Won Jong Hee owning his own punk label and club, Skunk Hell.
Even 20 years later, the incident still comes to mind for many music enjoyers.
