Yellow Hair - Controversy Over Sexual Content

Controversy Over Sexual Content

In March 1999, Yellow Hair became the first film to be rejected outright by the Korean Performing Arts Promotion Committee (KPAPC), the organization responsible for film certification and censorship within South Korea. The sexual content of the film, including one scene depicting a threesome, was deemed to be in breach of the committee's guidelines on explicit sex. Committee member Cho Hee-mun stated that "The film contains scenes which are disgusting and totally unacceptable to our moral standards." This decision effectively banned the film from release.

Director Kim Yu-min defended his film, explaining that "The girls use sex to communicate... The sex scenes draw out the characters. I took pains not to sensationalize them." Producer Yeo Han-ku added to this, maintaining that the film "has an important social message." Other critics argued that the committee's ruling was out of touch with the views of contemporary society. An edited version of the film, having roughly a minute of sexual content removed and several scenes darkened and blurred, was later approved for release by the committee.