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🇰🇷 South Korea /Elections & Politics

Election Commission apologizes for 'skate fish' slur in promotional video

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement Outcome reported
  • South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) apologized for using an image of a 홍어 (skate fish) in a promotional video, which is considered a derogatory symbol for the Honam region.
  • The video, created in collaboration with KBS for the June 3 local elections, was intended to help voters understand the vote-counting process.
  • The Democratic Party criticized the NEC and KBS, calling the use of the symbol "regional discrimination and hate speech" and demanding a thorough investigation.

South Korea's National Election Commission (NEC) has apologized after a promotional video created for the upcoming local elections included an image widely perceived as a slur against the Honam region.

The NEC and KBS, are you proxies for Ilbe?

— Jeon Jin-sukSpokesperson for the Democratic Party, criticizing the use of a derogatory symbol in an official election video.

The video, a collaboration with broadcaster KBS, aimed to educate voters on the vote-counting process. However, a scene featuring a character sighing with a graphic of a skate fish (홍어) superimposed over their nose and mouth sparked controversy. The skate fish is a symbol often used by far-right online communities, such as Ilbe, to disparage the Honam region.

Following the backlash, the NEC issued a statement on June 5, expressing its deep apologies to the public for the inclusion of the image. The commission stated that the video, produced by an external vendor using AI technology, had been removed from its official YouTube channel as soon as the issue was identified.

This is a deep insult to the citizens of the region and shows how poorly the public nature of both KBS and the NEC is managed.

— Jeon Jin-sukSpokesperson for the Democratic Party, commenting on the impact of the controversial video.

KBS also apologized during its 9 o'clock news broadcast for airing the video, acknowledging that the graphic could be interpreted as discriminatory. Political criticism was swift, with the Democratic Party's spokesperson, Jeon Jin-suk, condemning the NEC and KBS. Jeon questioned if they were "proxies for Ilbe" and denounced the use of the symbol as "malicious political code" that had infiltrated democratic institutions. The party demanded a transparent investigation into how such content was approved and aired, rejecting the idea of a quiet removal as a cowardly escape.

It is not something that can be ended with a cowardly escape by quietly removing the video.

— Jeon Jin-sukSpokesperson for the Democratic Party, demanding accountability from the NEC and KBS.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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