Oh My Girl reps reveals reason for detainment at airport

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

Reps revealed why they were denied which was basically because officers thought the girls were "working girls" (prostitutes) and when staff were asked their relationship to the girls, they said that they were 'sisters'.

1. [+2,024, -49] Their agency is so dumb...

2. [+1,644, -35] All the staff had to say was that they were staff and the girls were singers, why would you call them your sisters when you're not even related ㅋㅋ no wonder they were misunderstood

3. [+938, -29] Their parents must be so upset. How could you send them abroad without an interpreter? It's not like the staff are all fluent in English

4. [+895, -40] So it was the staff's problem??

5. [+578, -56] Whatever the case, they definitely got themselves tons of promotions with this. I was wondering who this girl group was because I kept seeing articles about them since last night but now I know who they are.

6. [+109, -2] Sister ㅋㅋㅋㅋ they're not even sisters. Why would you send them without an interpreter like this? Why would you even send them with a staff that dumb?

7. [+103, -6] I'm surprised they actually admitted that they were misunderstood for being prostitutes

8. [+96, -4] Why in the world did they get a tourist visa when they're there as performers ㅋㅋ nobody over there cares whether you're being paid to perform or not, it's just obvious to customs that dozens of people carrying weird props and outfits in their luggage are obviously not there for tourism. It's unfair what happened but their agency handled this so poorly. I hope they know that the members and staff are not going to be able to enter America for the next 10 years at minimum now.. they're 90% on a blacklist. Their chances of going to America are over, tsk tsk.

9. [+98, -8] Really? The staff called themselves the group's sisters... they should know to be honest when they're being questioned like that.. that staff is a psycho.

10. [+75, -2] They couldn't have gone through all that because a staff said she was their 'sister'.. obviously someone else screwed up too.

Translation:netizenbuzz
Original: naver



A follow up to this post.

Comments

[yohan94.livejournal.com]

oop, i just submitted a post. here's the full statement - soompi (http://www.soompi.com/2015/12/10/the-word-sister-was-behind-oh-my-girls-detainment-at-los-angeles-airport/)


mess. maybe the comapany would have come to a decision for them to return sooner if they were able to contact the staff, since their phones were taken away. ugh poor bbs.

[typhlogirl.livejournal.com]

because officers thought the girls were "working girls" (prostitutes) and when staff were asked their relationship to the girls, they said that they were 'sisters'

[typhlogirl.livejournal.com]

lorrdddddd the most respectable news source in Australia now has an article on this (http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-11/k-pop-band-detained-at-la-airport-as-suspected-sex-workers/7022820), get that mediaplay OMG!

[lazmy.livejournal.com]

oh my god are you KIDDING

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

right? what a mess all around

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

this entire thing gives me a headache

[unicornios.livejournal.com]

lmao

BYE

[chenetic.livejournal.com]

Lmaoooooooo

[parkjsun.livejournal.com]

Jfc, the incompetence. Poor girls :(

And does US customs not provide translators???? Like this entire thing could've been avoided with proper communication.

[chastainy.livejournal.com]

the customs is a mess, my family is from cuba and last time we went my grandmother had some passport problem and no one in customs spoke any spanish so i had to translate everything for the officer

[lulufairybubble.livejournal.com]

I knew it when i first heard the story. A bunch of young girls with all these clothes and youre not sure of the relationship between the girls and these adults they are traveling with. I knew customs thought something shady was going on. Customs can have translators come in but that doesnt change that they originally lied about their relationship to the girls. That makes it look even more shady to them.

[parkjsun.livejournal.com]

Customs can have translators come in but that doesnt change that they originally lied about their relationship to the girls.

It kinda does because is it really a lie if the statement was made by a staff with a poor understanding of English? A claim could easily be made that when the officer asked for a "relation", the staff could have thought personal not business relations (because it's often used in personal connotations). The staff could have tried to say the literal meaning of "dongsaeng", which in her case would be "sister".

[iznanassi.livejournal.com]

they also didn't have a working visa despite being there...to work

[annieshoe.livejournal.com]

LOL

[timetobegin.livejournal.com]

I have no idea how all of this works but - wouldn't they have needed the proper paperwork to fly in all that stuff to the US anyway? It seems like this could have easily been avoided....

[senshicalico.livejournal.com]

poor bbs. That must've been really embarrassing for the girls.

[chanqsun.livejournal.com]

holy shit

[musuu.livejournal.com]

B1A4 has been in the country countless times so why didn't they send one of those staff with them? Smh.

[sra-interesante.livejournal.com]

b1a4 needs that staff people too
right now they're doing their first european tour (today they're in berlin)
oh my girl have their own (maybe less experienced) staff

[pseudo-shigure.livejournal.com]

my first thought was they should've had some kind of liaison state side to help them. but apparently they confiscated their phones. but still, if they had one, their liaison could've been ready and help communicate with the airport even before they came. but eh idk. WM looks shaddy af with the lack of permits/documentation.

[tungatunga.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't probably matter if they were detained and they didn't have proper paperwork they would be returned from airport even if they have contact with someone outside. And it''s not surprising that their phones were confiscated when there was suspicion of human trafficking.

[bomsnose.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to fork out more empathy for the company, but can't. For the girls -- they don't deserve this mess for sure, but then the company...
I guess it's the hard way to learn that US customs and border control doesn't mess around, and useless to expect flexibility from them.

[yohan94.livejournal.com]

honestly. who would have thought.

[phililen3.livejournal.com]

Mess.....

Is comment 8 right? 10 year ban? That sucks. Hope they weren't planning any US tours...

[alleybetwixt.livejournal.com]

Obviously it's a bummer the girls had to go through that mess... but I find myself heartened that they were detained.

There was clearly incompetence in preparing by their company. Work VISA fail, miscommunication fail, possibly lying to cover their asses fail. And then all the glaring red flags of a bunch of young pretty girls, with the costumes/gear they were traveling with, being 'managed' by people giving sketchy answers about their relationship and reason for being there.

Like, I'm glad the customs/airport staff don't fuck around with that. Not gonna complain about them being extra-cautious around possible human trafficking.

[mlmello.livejournal.com]

ita

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

It sucks.
Also if I were from their PR company, I would blame it on visa problems and say nothing about "working girls" suspicions, what the hell. It's better to say "we screwed up with the papers" instead of "we screwed up AND lied to the point US authorities thought it was child trafficking".
I guess they're not going back to the US anytime soon.
I hope the detention conditions were right. Apart from that, good thing that US airports are so controlled ; it's obviously sad in this case but reassuring.

I wonder if them choosing tourism visas has anything to do with having minors in the group? In that case, they should have planned something closer and keep the US for later on...

I don't feel that much sorry for the company, yeah they lost a huge amount of money but they should have made their job correctly in the first place.
Poor girls. They don't deserve that.

[justkyhdding.livejournal.com]

nah leading with the working girls story is what is making this story blow up and appear on BBC etc. The whole thing is because WM didn't get the right visas, but they have managed to spin it in a way that gets the girls more attention, sympathy etc.

[torontok.livejournal.com]

I hope someone at WM is getting fired for this because this entire debacle could have been easily avoided with the proper documents.

[iskerplunk.livejournal.com]

and didn't they go back to korea almost right away too? jfc. i hope these girls are getting a good rest. the company should have just shilled out a little more money for proper visa, but alas

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

after being detained for 10 hours, they did return to korea yep

[yohan94.livejournal.com]

also i wonder if any of the cost from this will be put on the girls' personal debt to the company which would be crazy bc it's not their fault

[hellicoptajuuce.livejournal.com]

LMAO idiots!


i knew they would think they were hookers. cameras, costumes and girls who are all look like theyre under 18 is cause for concern

[iamtheliquorr.livejournal.com]

Well, this is a circle of incompetence on WM's part

I feel really bad for the girls