In a new campaign to control COVID-19 outbreaks, music faster than 120 BPM has been banned in South Korean gyms to limit fast breathing.
In response to the new COVID cases in South Korea, new music rules have been put in place so that gym businesses can remain open while preventing people from breathing too fast or splashing sweat.
The highly contagious Delta variant has sparked the nation’s latest COVID-19 outbreak, and over 1,000 new cases have been reported for seven consecutive days.
In addition to the music restrictions, treadmills have also been limited to a maximum of 6 km/h.
LOL THEY DID WHAT
— 🌛 Moony🌱 (@ikendoitt) July 12, 2021
Gym owners have questioned the move in Seoul and its surrounding region.
Kang Hyun-ku, who owns a gym in Seoul, asked whether there was any proof a choice between classical music and BTS had an impact on spreading the virus.
“Many people use their own earphones and wearable devices these days, and how do you control their playlists?” he said.
Opposition member of the People Power Party, Kim Yong-tae, said the new restrictions appeared to be ineffective and unrealistic to maintain, saying:
“So you don’t get COVID-19 if you walk slower than 6km per hour“.
“And who on earth checks the BPM of the songs when you work out?” said Kim Yong-tae.
So instead of either saying the Gym’s closed, or 25% or 50% capacity etc South Korea come out with this doozy.
Science clearly making pure and perfect sense on a Tuesday morning 🤣🙄 https://t.co/KTNOGs1GPJ— Nathan Bester (@duckybester85) July 12, 2021
A quick look at K-pop BPMs suggests Blackpink fans might suffer a bit more than followers of BTS, with a list of “safe” K-pop songs circulating online, including BTS tunes including “Dynamite” (114 BPM) and “Butter” (110 BPM).
Whereas Blackpink’s most popular songs host higher than regulation BPMs for songs such as “Kill This Love” (132 BPM) and “Ice Cream” (160 BPM).
One person who will be happy with the developments is North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, who recently labelled K-pop a “vicious cancer” on his country’s youth, and threatened to put anyone who listened to it in a labour camp for 15 years.
The South Korean government has imposed its highest level of COVID-19 restrictions to combat its worst-ever COVID-19 outbreak.
The country’s daily new case total has topped over 1,000 for seven consecutive days, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), recording a total of 170,296 cases and 2,048 deaths.
Check out a sample sub-120 BPM workout playlist below (in case you too want to limit breathing and sweat during exercise):
Coming in at 132 bpm, “Gangnam Style” by South Korea’s Psy is ruled out. But gym-goers can still work out to “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown” or “Dynamite,” by BTS. A gym member trains in a fitness club in Seoul, South..https://t.co/gnar72nKii
— Ernst August (@EarnstAugust) July 13, 2021
