[OSEN=김은애 기자] YG Entertainment’s YANG HYUN SUK raised attention on BIGBANG SEUNGRI’s solo track, ‘WHERE R U FROM’.

On July 30, YANG HYUN SUK uploaded SEUNGRI’s MV poster on his social media and wrote, “#SEUNGRI #BIGBANG #WHERE_R_U_FROM #MINO #MV #OUTNOW #YG”.

He emphasized by adding, “YOU_WILL_REGRET_NOT_WATCHING_THE_VIDEO”.

Along with SEUNGRI’s comeback, the MV for the title song ‘1, 2, 3!’ was released with his album on the 20^th. However, the MV for ‘WHERE R U FROM’ was kept in veil, raising the curiosities of fans.

The MV released on the 27^th starts with a global summit conference scene, while the parody of president Donald Trump of USA and Kim Jong Un of North Korea’s meeting captured the viewers’ attention. While representatives argued and raised voices during the summit, SEUNGRI arrives in a black horse, wearing a military police uniform.

WINNER’s MINO appears after SEUNGRI as a featuring artist, wearing a North Korean military uniform, and everyone at the scene starts dancing while the summit becomes a party.

The MV was directed by producer Park Junsoo, who directed ‘YG Electronics’. His unique B-rated emotions flooded within the MV, adding more joy.

Billboard responded by spotlighting SEUNGRI’s new MV with an article titled, ‘BIGBANG’s Seungri & WINNER’s Mino Mock Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in ‘Where R U From’ Music Video: Watch ‘.

Billboard introduced SEUNGRI’s MV by writing, ‘SEUNGRI’s MV is an obvious political satire, among all MVs released in K-Pop’.

In fact, the MV mocked not only president Donald Trump of the United States and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, but also reenacted a scene from the movie ‘JSA’, with MINO wearing a North Korean military uniform.

Billboard added, “While PSY’s MV in 2012 parodied the socio-economic situation, SEUNGRI’s MV in 2018 satirically described the global political situation”.

SEUNGRI is currently working hard on preparing for his first solo concert ‘SEUNGRI 2018 1st SOLO TOUR [THE GREAT SEUNGRI] in SEOUL x BC CARD’ which will be held through August 4~5 at 6 PM in Seoul Jangchung Gymnasium.

2018. 7. 30.

One of South Korea’s biggest stars has taken on the peninsula’s biggest news story in years: the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In a new video from Lee Seung-hyun, better known as BIGBANG’s Seungri, the K-Pop star invades a meeting of the world leaders and sits down alongside not-really-look-a-likes of Trump and Kim.
At one point, “Kim” performs a choreographed dance and drinks champagne arm-in-arm with “Trump” as the chorus pumps “where are you from?”

To a western audience not up on K-Pop, the video shares a number of similarities with Psy’s colossal hit “Gangnam Style,” with a similar tone, simple chorus and choreography.
Seungri’s video seems destined for a similar amount of viral success too, racking up more than 2.7 million views on YouTube since it was released late last week.

He isn’t the first Asian musician to go after this topic: in March, Japanese band World Order released “Let’s start WW3,” which directly targeted Trump with the memorable lyric, “let’s grab them by the pussy.”

The video ends with a poster showing dozens of world flags and the slogan “We are all one.”

K-Politics

While it doesn’t quite reach the levels of social commentary in Childish Gambino’s mega hit “This is America,” Seungri’s video does touch on some sensitive topics in South Korea, especially for usually apolitical mainstream K-Pop. He dons the uniform of a South Korean soldier during one scene, while featured rapper Mino wears North Korean military garb.

All of Seungri’s BIGBANG bandmates — T.O.P, Taeyang, G-Dragon, and Daesung — are currently performing their mandatory military service, and he is due to join them later this year, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Under current South Korean law, all men between the ages of 18 and 35 are required to perform at least 21 months of military service. The Defense Ministry has pledged to reduce the term to 18 months by 2020. Those who do not serve can face years in prison.

The law has derailed the careers of many of the country’s biggest sports stars and K-Pop artists, and even BIGBANG — one of the most successful South Korean bands in recent decades — risk their legally-mandated hiatus harming future record sales.

South Korea’s Supreme Court is due to hear a case on conscientious objection next month which, depending on the ruling, could begin to chip away at the decades-old law. Last month, a lower court ruled that objectors must be given alternative forms of service, though it did not change the mandatory nature of the law.

Any ruling will likely come too late for Seungri, however, and even if he wanted to avoid military service in order to keep performing, doing so can have a far more negative effect on a musician’s career.

Yoo Seung-jun, a hugely popular singer in the 1990s, had to give up his career in South Korea after he was accused of evading military service by becoming a US citizen. He is still banned from entering South Korea.

Source: CNN