After controversy erupted over the use of sexual words in a text message sent by Yeonggwang County, South Jeolla, to promote a cherry blossom festival, the county explained it was a "simple typo."
At about 5:25 p.m. on the 27th, the Yeonggwang County Youth Center wrote in a text message sent to website subscribers, "Yeonggwang youth 'Beotkkoch Nolja' 'See the flowers and see someone like a flower… kkoch… just come to the festival.'"
It was a text message sent to promote programs the center is running during the cherry blossom festival period. But on online communities, criticism arose that it intentionally used sexual expressions. The term "kkoch" was seen as reminiscent of a man's genitals.
On the communities, reactions included "A typo that's hard to make unintentionally," and "Similar typos were used repeatedly, and it's hard to understand why they weren't filtered out in advance."
The center sent an additional text, saying there was a typo in the message and correcting "Beotkkoch Nolja" to "Let's enjoy the cherry blossoms."
However, as the controversy spread, the center apologized again on the 31st via its official social media (SNS), saying, "We deeply apologize for the unfortunate incident caused by a typo in the promotional text."
It added, "We will strengthen the review process before sending texts to prevent the same problem from recurring," and "We will do our best to restore trust through careful and responsible operations."
The center is also reportedly reviewing disciplinary action against the person who wrote the message.