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A girl band was arrested at an airport after they were mistaken for being sex workers.

K-Pop group Oh My Girl were travelling to the United States for an album cover shoot when they were stopped at Los Angeles International Airport by authorities.

The eight-piece, aged between 16 and 21, were detained in customs for 15 hours on Thursday after officers searched through their costumes and props, their agents said.

The band's record company, WM Entertainment, said the immigration authorities had paid extra attention to the large quantity of outfits they had and questioned their relationship.

(Image: Getty)

A statement said: "Probably because of their young age, they seem to have mistaken them as sex workers."

The girls, who formed the band in March, were later released and returned to South Korea while the agency is taking legal advice as to whether the detention was awful.

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There might also have been an issue with the type of visa the band members were holding, as they were also booked to perform at a gala event in Los Angeles tomorrow, it's reported.

South Korean's pop music, referred to as K-pop, is dominated by young girl and boy bands whose members are sometimes as young as 13 or 14 years old.

In 2012, the South Korean authorities took steps to curb oversexualised performances, threatening to slap R-ratings on films, music videos and TV shows that placed an exaggerated sexual emphasis on young singers and bands they feature.