Jeju Youth Center, an organization that supports youth activities in Jeju, came under fire for airing sexist language and inappropriate scenes in an official promotional video.
On the 18th, Jeju Youth Center released a promotional video on its official Instagram to encourage sign-ups for center clubs. The video took the form of a parody by rewriting the lyrics to singer Song Chang-sik's famous song "The girl at the cigarette shop."
The problem was the content of the video. The lyrics included expressions such as "The girls at Jeju Youth Center are pretty" and "All the young people in Jeju are peeking and snooping," which objectified female employees or portrayed them as spectacles. In particular, controversy grew as a scene showed a man mouthing a profanity-like shape to swear after being rejected by a woman.
People who saw the video criticized it, saying, "It's shocking that a youth support agency depicted women as targets of pestering," and "What was the intent of including a scene of swearing after being rejected in a promotional piece?"
As criticism spread, Jeju Youth Center immediately deleted the video and posted an official apology.
On its official Instagram, the center said, "We deeply apologize to the young people and Jeju residents who felt great hurt and discomfort because of the promotional video," and added, "We acutely realize that our gender sensitivity was severely lacking in the content production process."
The center said it would take stern measures against those involved in planning and approving the video and strengthen professional gender-sensitivity training for all employees.
Jeju Youth Center is a public platform established under the "Jeju-do Youth Basic Ordinance," tasked with supporting young people's employment and community activities.