[SpoTV News Reporter Kim Jun-seok] Singer Lee Seung-chul revealed the story behind being banned from entering Japan for 10 years following his performance on Dokdo.
On the 25th, a video titled “Lee Seung-chul [Jjanhanyoung] EP. 69 Sit down. I’ll tell you a thrilling story…” was uploaded to the YouTube channel ‘Jjanhanyoung’.
In the video, Shin Dong-yeop asked, “Hyung, are you still unable to go to Japan?” and Lee Seung-chul confidently replied, “Yes.”
Shin Dong-yeop joked, “Is that why you’re using a lot of Japanese words today? Watching over there and entering…” to which Lee Seung-chul replied humorously, “I’ll settle it with this. Using Japanese as if saying ‘Oh, this is Japan.'”
Shin Dong-yeop explained the incident to Jeong Ho-cheol, saying, “Do you really not know? Lee Seung-chul was banned from entering Japan,” and Jeong Ho-cheol jestingly responded, “I thought it was just because you experienced the Japanese occupation.”
Lee Seung-chul shared, “There was a chorus of young defectors who came to me one day and asked if I could write a song for them to perform on Dokdo as a world peace song. I initially refused, thinking it could be politically sensitive. But my wife said, ‘How could you let 40 kids and 20 staff go without us?’ So I went. The song ‘That Day’ is about reunification. We took the kids to the UN, but I was the only one allowed to perform inside due to the ‘performance being a bit problematic.’ We also performed at Harvard. The problem arose when we went to Japan afterward.”
Shin Dong-yeop commented, “It was a sensitive period at that time,” and Lee Seung-chul added, “Even now, when I go to rural areas, the elders still call me a patriot.”
Previously, in April 2021, Lee Seung-chul shared the situation of his Japan entry denial on JTBC’s entertainment program ‘Singer Gain’.
Lee Seung-chul noted that among approximately 2,000 performances, the Dokdo concert on August 14, 2014, was the most memorable.
He confessed, “I held a concert on Dokdo with the young defector choir, and afterward, my entry to Japan was denied.”
Following this, Lee Soo-geun shared, “I also had my entry denied because I went to Dokdo three times for a ‘1 Night 2 Days’ shoot.”
When Lee Soo-geun asked, “But isn’t there no special reason to go there anymore?” Lee Seung-chul humorously replied, “I just want to try the hot springs,” eliciting laughter.