In 2005, an indie rock band from South Korea, Rux, would inadvertently change how Korean music is presented on TV to millions of fans in the country—and eventually the world as it was only a few years in to what many would call the “Hallyu Wave”.

A music show that aired on one of the major broadcasting networks in Korea, MBC, called Music Camp would premiere the performance of an underground rock band called Rux. The segment lead to a lot of conversations leading up to the soon-to-be-infamous performance, as the band—with a punk rock concept—was one of the very few, if not only acts of its kind to air on South Korean television.

Rux, a 4-member band, was started by Won Jong Hee in 1996; the band would release their first mini-album in 1999 with “I Gatta Go”. It was also around the release of their first EP the band’s frontrunner launched an indie record label called Skunk Label. The creation of the label also spurred the opening of the Skunk Hell nightclub, operating in locations around Sinchon, Hongdae, and Mullae.

Being only in the mid-2000s, rock music was gaining momentum in South Korea despite being dominated in a field of pop music in a post-Seo Taiji and Boys, pre-BTS era Korea. Despite being two years away from the debut of FT Island, being a K-Pop group with a rock band concept; punk rock, on the other hand, was—and still 20 years later in 2025—very, very niche in the country. Rux, however, to the literal surprise of millions, made punk rock’s visibility much worse.

July 30th, 2005, would be the biggest day in K-Pop history, when Rux performed for the first—and last—time on Music Camp, and on TV. This performance would also be the last time Music Camp ever aired on MBC. The reason: two supporters who were on stage supporting Rux’s performance would do something no one expected them to do, even during rehearsals: pulling their pants down, exposing themselves to the horrors of everyone in the audience, and on national television.

Following the performance, the hosts Shinji of the co-ed group Koyotae and rapper MC Mong would appear to close out the episode with an apology to the viewers and to see them the next week; but there would not be a “next week” as it would be Music Camp’s unexpected final episode following Rux’s stunt.

Following the event, the two men on stage were arrested and questioned if they were under the influence of drugs that spurred the incident, in which test results returned negative. Following the investigation, the men were charged for indecency and business interference. Additionally, Won Jong Hee was arrested for the involvement of the two men.

The unfortunate events on Music Camp would slowly change the landscape of how music performances are broadcast on all three of the major networks including MBC: KBS and SBS. To fill in the void left by Music Camp, October 29th, 2005 would see the premiere of Show! Music Core, which airs to this very day.

Rux is still active as of 2025, with the frontrunner Won Jong Hee uploading periodically on his self-titled YouTube channel of vlogs, covers, and MVs.

[Source: Dong-a Ilbo, UCLA Asia Institute (via WaybackMachine)]