British electronic group Massive Attack performs “Regret of the Times” as part of its Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival set on Aug. 1, drawing renewed attention in South Korea to past battles over censorship and authoritarian control. The dispute centers on the band’s framing of the cover as a homage to Seo Taiji & Boys’ 1995 song, which had earlier become a flashpoint in South Korea’s music-censorship era. Both outlets report that the song was previously caught in a government censorship conflict, when Seo Taiji & Boys refused to comply with a pre-release screening requirement for the track. That standoff is widely cited as contributing to the later abolition of the country’s pre-release music censorship system. After Massive Attack’s performance, a South Korean city councillor seeks to investigate the band using a government audit linked to the show. Critics argue that revisiting the matter could revive the same dynamic the song was understood to resist. Massive Attack says its cover is intended as solidarity with that legacy, performing parts in Korean and parts in English to reach broader audiences.
Massive Attack’s Seo Taiji tribute in Incheon prompts censorship-related row
British electronic group Massive Attack performs “Regret of the Times” as part of its Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival set on Aug. 1, drawing renewed attention in South Korea to past battles over censo...
- Massive Attack performs “Regret of the Times” by Seo Taiji & Boys at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Aug. 1.
- A South Korean city councillor calls for a government audit or investigation related to the performance.
- The original 1995 song is described as having been involved in a past censorship standoff with South Korean authorities.
- Seo Taiji & Boys’ refusal to comply with a pre-screening requirement is cited as contributing to the later abolition of pre-release music censorship.
- Massive Attack presents its cover as a tribute/solidarity with the song’s history, performing in both Korean and English.
When Massive Attack covered Seo Taiji & Boys’ “Regret of the Times” at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on August 1, the British band framed it as a tribute to a song that had once defied authoritarian control. Now, a South Korean city councillor wants to use a government audit to investigate the band over the performance, a move critics say risks reviving the very dynamic the song was written to resist. “Regret of the Times”, released by Seo Taiji & Boys in 1995, was itself once at the centre of...
3 hours agoWhen Massive Attack covered Seo Taiji & Boys' "Regret of the Times" at Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on Aug. 1, the British band framed it as a tribute to a song that had once defied authoritarian control. Now, a Korean city councilor wants to use a government audit to investigate the band over the performance, a move critics say risks reviving the very dynamic the song was written to resist. "Regret of the Times," released by Seo Taiji & Boys in 1995, was itself once at the center of a censorship battle. The group refused to comply with a government pre-screening requirement for the track, resulting in a standoff that contributed to the eventual abolition of Korea's pre-release music censorship system. Massive Attack's cover, performed partly in the original Korean as homage and partly in English for a wider audience, was explicitly framed by the band as an act of solidarity with that legacy. "'Regret of the Times' took on an authoritarian government and won. In 2026, as corporate absorption and the censorship of artists for political expression looms large again, it resonates as a s
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