No joke: Water bottles used by K-pop group Oh My Girl given away as ‘prizes’ at university festival

University festivals in South Korea have become contentious when K-pop idols are involved, but this time the singers aren’t the ones to blame.

K-pop girl group Oh My Girl — comprising Hyojung, Mimi, YooA, Seunghee, Yubin and Arin — performed at the Sun Moon University Balloon Festival in Asan on May 22, entertaining the crowd of university students in attendance with hits such as Dun Dun Dance and Dolphin.

After their performance, the emcee at the event reportedly tried to give out water bottles the women had been drinking from as ‘prizes’ to male members of the audience.

A video on X, formerly known as Twitter, blurs out the emcee’s face but shows him and another man — presumably a student invited onstage — bend down to seemingly choose the bottles.

The host can be heard saying: “Whose bottle do you want?”

Netizens were baffled and angered by the incident, calling the emcee “insane” and “unprofessional”.

A netizen quote-replied to the post, writing: “This old-fashioned, perverted mindset is truly disgusting.”

“Do singers have to worry about their water bottles after performances now?” another wrote.

Some netizens even posited that the incident should be considered sexual harassment.

The Korea Times reported yesterday (May 27) that the emcee has since apologised.

“I mistakenly thought it would be a memorable gesture, but it ended up causing harm,” he said. “Some students who participated in the talent show expected different prizes, and they were surprised to receive Oh My Girl’s water bottles.”

He added that the incident happened due to his own “poor judgement” and that he should be the one criticised, not the students who participated.

The university’s student council also issued an apology, saying: “We apologise to those who felt uncomfortable and were affected by the inappropriate proceedings at the festival.”

They added that the actions by the host were not planned with the university or Oh My Girl.

“We sincerely apologise to Oh My Girl and their fans for the unexpected incident that occurred after the performance,” they added in their statement.