Oh My Girl, A South Korean girl group, was sent back to South Korea after officials in Los Angeles suspected them as sex workers. U.S. authorities seemed to have taken the members as sex workers after examining their costumes and props.
On December 9th, Oh My Girl, an eight-membered girl group formed by WM Entertainment, were travelling to America for an album cover shoot but were detained for over seven hours in customs after going through their costumes and props.
A statement from their agency, WM Entertainment, stated, "The members of Oh My Girl and their staff successfully passed through immigration, but it appears that their filming equipment and outfits for the album jacket shoot have become a problem. Apparently there has been a misunderstanding during the customs inspection. We are trying to find out what exactly has happened."
The group wasn't able to apply for the proper visa beforehand but were successfully able to pass through the immigration check. The problem reportedly arises when customs authorities started questioning the relationship between its members and the agency staff. One of the staff members mistakenly used the word "sister" to describe the relationship.
In addition, the girl group was questioned with the type of visa the band members were holding as they were also booked to perform at a gala event in Los Angeles on Saturday. However, WM Entertainment said no entertainer's visa was necessary for the group to attend the event since it was not a solo concert.
According to a statement released by WM Entertainment, the border security became suspicious when they noticed that the band was carrying a large number of costumes and props. "As young women, they were mistaken as 'working women', which has recently been a big issue in the U.S," explains the agency representative.
There has been a recent police clampdown on "Doumi Girls," women who are paid to hang out in private rooms at Korea Town's karaoke spots in LA. Thus, Korean women are facing increasing scrutiny from immigration authorities based on the suspicion that they may be entering the country to illegally work in the Korea Town's sex work scene.
The group was forced to fly back to South Korea after an agonizingly 15 hours of detainment. They were reportedly resting and discussing what to do with the disrupted filming.
Meanwhile, it was also revealed that WM Entertainment hired a U.S. attorney to investigate whether the detention of Oh My Girl was unlawful and will take legal actions if necessary.
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