"Government Agency's Selection of Provocative Trendy Song Parody" Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's 'Hongbaksa Meme' Controversy

A Comedian's Song Based on Adult Jokes
'Dance Challenge' Trending on TikTok, Reels, Shorts
Minors Can Watch and Enjoy Without Restrictions

As somewhat provocative songs continue to spark controversy on YouTube and social media (SNS), a government ministry has stirred debate by parodying related music tracks.

What is 'Do You Know Dr. Hong?'... Upon Closer Look, "Somewhat Provocative"

Comedian Jo Hoon's alter ego 'Jo Joobong' released the song 'Do You Know Dr. Hong?'
[Photo source=YouTube capture]

On the 14th, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport posted on X (formerly Twitter) promoting toll-free highway travel during the Chuseok holiday. In doing so, the ministry parodied part of the lyrics from a specific song, saying, "Did you know that tolls are free during ChuChuChuChuChuseok too?"

Netizens responded with comments such as, "Is a government agency following a lowbrow pop song?", "It's good to approach people in a friendly way through memes, but government agencies must not forget to maintain dignity," "They should consider that the entire nation is watching," and "It seems they wrote it without looking at the full lyrics."

The song parodied by the ministry was released in July by comedian Jo Hoon's alter ego (bu-cae) 'Jo Joobong.' With its catchy melody and provocative yet humorous dance challenge, it has gained popularity mainly on short video sharing platforms.

Recently, various online communities, especially mom cafes, have posted messages like, "'Do you know Dr. Hong?' Isn't this song really strange?"

However, there are many opinions, particularly from households with young children, that the song's lyrics are inappropriate for minors. The lyrics include lines such as, "Once there was a maiden who was self-conscious about her small chest. So she went to see the famous Dr. Hong. He said that doing this exercise would make her chest bigger. So she was doing the exercise at the bus stop. Then a man tapped her shoulder and asked, 'Do you know Dr. Hong?'"

There is also a dance challenge associated with the song. The dance involves movements such as folding both arms close to the body and then separating them, covering the crotch area with both hands and then spreading them sideways, and shaking the legs, all performed in time with the song. When connected to the lyrics, the dance implies that people worried about the size of certain body parts are following the moves taught by 'Dr. Hong.'

Originally, this track was created by Jo Hoon as a song based on adult comedy. Voices from mom cafes and others include comments like, "This song is too vulgar," "It appears all day on Reels (Instagram's short video sharing platform), making me feel sexually harassed all day," and "Yesterday, my elementary school child was singing it, so I scolded them not to."

Meanwhile, the YouTube channel 'It's Live' suddenly made the video of Jo Hoon's live performance of the song private on the 24th, a day after posting it on the 23rd. Although the reason for making it private was not disclosed, some speculate it was due to awareness of negative public opinion.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.