Of course, "pika" is also famous for the Pokémon character "Pikachu."

Yonhap News reports that Korean government-funded television network KBS deemed the song unfit for broadcast because of the Japanese term. The group removed the Japanese phrase and replaced it with its Korean equivalent for the network's approval.

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Other Korean television networks did not appear to raise objections regarding the song.

On 2ch, Japan's largest forum, people seem baffled by KBS's stance. "Is only Japanese not allowed?" wrote one 2ch commenter. "What about English and Chinese?" That does raise a good point: Does the network not allow any other language to be mixed in with Korean songs? Others said this showed the two countries could never get along.

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This decision appears to be a poorly thought out move on KBS's part. I imagine that Crayon Pop fans in South Korea are equally miffed.

韓国アイドルの新曲 日本語使用で「放送不適合」[Yonhap News]

To contact the author of this post, write to bashcraftATkotaku.com or find him on Twitter @Brian_Ashcraft.

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