Culture Minister Yu In-chon, shown in this image sequence spreading on the Internet, tries to embrace Olympic gold medal-winning figure skater Kim Yu-na during a welcoming ceremony after her victory at the Vancouver Olympics on March 2. Some netizens are facing police investigations for satirizing it as Yu making an unwanted pass at the iconic skater. / Korea Times |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has filed a complaint against a group of netizens, who allegedly uploaded an edited video clip of skating queen Kim Yu-na and Minister Yu In-chon together.
Jongno Police Station in Seoul said Wednesday that it was investigating the netizens for uploading the clip after receiving complaints from the ministry. The clip was edited to look as if the minister tried to embrace Yu-na and the skater avoided him, the ministry said, complaining that it was an act of sexual harassment.
The video clip in question is an edited version of a KBS news segment when the minister greeted the athletes from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics on their return home at Incheon International Airport on March 2.
It shows Yu giving the gold medal-winning figure skater a bouquet and celebrating with her at a faster speed than in the original clip.
The ministry said the video clip was edited with ill intentions, distorting the minister's behavior, which is libelous against the minister.
"The minister only tried to congratulate Kim, but it was edited to look like Yu was trying to hug or even molest her. This kind of false representation causes people to misunderstand the minister's good-hearted gesture," a ministry official said.
However, some netizens were up in arms, criticizing the minister for a lack of tolerance toward satire.
A netizen nicknamed "spray" said he received a call from the police station saying he was suspected of spreading the clip.
"I only saw the video clip on the Internet and re-uploaded it on another board. I am afraid that the police will summon me for spreading the video clip that was already reported by the media," he said.
Some netizens also think the culture ministry is going too far. "I saw both the original news clip and the version spreading online. The latter has a possibility of misleading viewers, but it can be considered as satire," a netizen nicknamed "heart" posted.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
문화부 `회피 연아’동영상 네티즌 고소
문화체육관광부가 인터넷 상에 떠돌고 있는 이른바 ‘회피 연아’ 동영상 제작 누리꾼들을 명예훼손 혐의로 고소했다.
해당 동영상에는 유인촌 문화부 장관이 지난 2일 밴쿠버 올림픽을 끝내고 인천공항에 귀국한 김연아 선수에게 축하 꽃다발을 건네주고 포옹하려고 하자 김 선수가 포옹을 피하려는 듯한 모습이 담겨 있다. 문화부는 지난 8일 서울 종로경찰서에 해당 동영상을 제작해 인터넷에 유포한 네티즌을 고소했다고 17일 밝혔다.
문화부 관계자는 “본래 동영상 원본에서는 유 장관이 김 선수를 자연스럽게 격려하는 모습이었으나 누리꾼들이 퍼뜨린 동영상은 이를 왜곡, 편집해 명예훼손 혐의가 있다고 봤다”며 “경찰에 수사를 의뢰한 상황이며 처벌은 나중에 판단할 문제”라고 말했다. 이명박 정부 들어서 문화부가 직접적으로 네티즌을 고발하거나 수사를 의뢰한 것은 처음 있는 일이다.
서울 종로경찰서는 해당 동영상의 유포 경로를 추적, 해당 누리꾼들을 소환 중인 것으로 알려졌다. 네티즌들 사이에서 ‘회피 연아’라 불리는 이 동영상은 KBS에서 촬영한 영상을 한 누리꾼이 편집해 인터넷에 올리면서 널리 유포됐다.
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