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A safety infographic distributed by the Labor Ministry on Aug. 5. The hand circled in green was the basis of two complaints over its resemblance to a finger-pinching gesture associated with misandry. (Labor Ministry) |
The Ministry of Labor and Employment had to revise images in its public materials following complaints that one of the illustrations featured what some saw as a hand gesture associated with misandry, local media reported Wednesday.
The illustration was part of a safety infographic shared via Kakao Talk messenger on Aug. 5 to alert the public about recent serious industrial accidents. It detailed the safety hazards leading to the fatal fall on Aug. 2 of a worker who had been fixing roofing materials in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and provided guidelines on preventing such falls from recurring.
The image accompanying the text showed the silhouette of a worker falling. Two complaints were filed over this image, claiming that the worker's hand appears to be making a pinching gesture.
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The same safety infographic was edited and redistributed by the Labor Ministry on Aug. 20. The hand circled in green was revised after two complaints were filed. (Labor Ministry) |
The ministry appears to have taken notice of these two complaints.
While the previous infographic remains unchanged — since deleting a message on KakaoTalk is only possible within five minutes — the ministry released a new infographic on Tuesday that eliminates any hint of the finger gesture in question.
This infographic content, also related to a fall incident, features an illustration of a falling person with their fingertips pressed together, avoiding the previously criticized pinching gesture.
In South Korea, many men consider the hand gesture, which mimics a pinching motion, offensive.
The two-finger gesture was first used in now-defunct feminist online community Megalia to belittle the size of Korean men's genitals as a tactic to mirror the level of scrutiny women's appearances have been subjected to in Korea, and became a major flashpoint of online debates.
In July, carmaker Renault Korea faced an online backlash after a female brand manager in a promotional video posted on YouTube was seen making the gesture. Other companies, including video game developer and publisher Nexon, LG Electronics and retailer GS25, have faced similar controversies.
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