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My Liberation Notes actor Lee El speaks about water wastage that may occur in the upcoming Water Bomb festival amid an immense drought in South Korea. She showed concern regarding how the water utilized in the festival could be redirected to mitigate the drought.
The much-awaited Water Bomb festival is an annual summer splash-themed music festival. Some of the event's highlights include water gun fights and water sprays with performances from various music artists. The festival is gaining extra attention this year as it boasts a star-studded lineup including MAMAMOO Hwasa, EXO Kai, ZICO, Jay Park, Jessi, Simon Dominic, Loco, and more.
The festival's Seoul iteration will occur in Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, promising to host fighting with water guns and a swimming pool party. However, this year's timing coincides with the winter drought, which has continued well into the summer months.
Lee El's statement follows PSY's comments about water usage in his summer concerts
On June 12th, Lee El called out the event, stating that the city could better employ all the water used at the festival. She pointed out that the concert will use over 300 tonnes of water.
Lee El said,
"Hope Water Bomb concert's 300t of water could be sprayed over the Soyang River."
This statement also appears to be a reaction to one of PSY's recent comments. The K-Pop giant recently invited controversy during his MBC show Radio Star appearance.
On May 4th, the singer spoke about his water-soaked summer concert, which has temporarily been put to stop due to the pandemic. He revealed that the water used at the event was potable. PSY said,
“I use drinkable water. Water is really expensive. It costs about 300 tons per concert.”
This statement sparked controversy, with several Korean citizens pointing out that wasting so much water amidst a severe drought season will have adverse effects. Many suggested the use of agricultural water instead.
PSY's summer concerts are notorious for excessive water usage since the concept of his show is to spray water from all sides throughout the performance for the audience to get soaking wet.
In light of this, Lee El's recent comments have been welcomed by Korean netizens as much-needed outrage.
However, a specific section also criticized the actor, saying that as long as the concert holders have purchased the water, it is okay to use it for festivals.
This made the actor tweet another statement, saying:
"Fine. If you are angry, express it, and if you want to curse, then curse. Yes. Because we humans all think differently."
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the winter drought in South Korea is continuing over the spring and early summer seasons. This past month, the cumulative precipitation was just 5.8mm, only 5.6% of the average cumulative rainfall of 104.2mm. The headwater in the Soyang River has already dried up due to this severe drought, making Lee El's statement valid.
Lee El's statement comes only weeks after the finale of the hit drama My Liberation Notes, where she plays the role of the lead characters alongside Son Seok-koo, Kim Ji-won, and Lee Min-ki.
In the drama, the 39-year-old South Korean beauty played the role of Yeom Ki Jung, the eldest among the three siblings.
