Cosmic Girls MV Filming At National Monument Sparks Controversy, Agency And Director Respond
A controversy unfortunately emerged due a misunderstanding surrounding the filming of an upcoming music video for Starship Entertainment’s rookie girl group, Cosmic Girls.
It was reported by Channel A on August 6 that a girl group had trespassed onto the Sinduri Coastal Sand Dune, a national monument that has signs up to tell visitors not to enter the protected area. The Sinduri Coastal Sand Dunes were made a national monument in 2001, and many dramas, music videos, variety shows (including “2 Days & 1 Night“), and films (including “War of the Arrows”) have filmed at the location.
Channel A reported that the monument’s property management told the group to get off the dunes over a loudspeaker, but they did not leave. It also claimed that the group eventually left once the police arrived and instructed them to leave.
After it was revealed that the group was Cosmic Girls, Starship Entertainment posted an apology to their fan cafe on August 6. In their apology, they state that they had verified prior to filming that the music video’s production company Fantazylab had received a permit. Starship also says that as many works have been filmed there in the past, they did not think that there would be a problem.
Starship writes, “When we heard about the limitations on location, we requested that the music video crew cease filming, and decided not to include the footage in the music video.”
However, Fantazylab’s Kim Ji Yong, the director of the music video, has since posted to Facebook to clarify what happened on location. He first apologizes for the fact that there was a problem during the filming, but goes on to explain that the production company did in fact receive a permit to film.
He writes, “We confirmed that there was miscommunication between the volunteer who told us over the loudspeaker that we could not film and the person on the filming permit team for the dunes that had helped us. After this, we even received help in regards to additional filming.”
Nevertheless, Kim Ji Yong writes that they consulted with Starship Entertainment and decided to edit the scenes out of the music video.
Cosmic Girls is currently gearing up for their first comeback as a thirteen-member group with the release of “The Secret” on August 17.