Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Sex-for-employment scene upsets online readers
Kim Hee-min, or Kian 84, star webcomic artist and a host of MBC's popular reality TV show “I Live Alone,” appears on the show in this undated photo. Courtesy of MBC
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Webcomic comic artist Kim Hee-min, who works under the pseudonym Kian 84, raised the eyebrows of internet users once again after his comic “Bokhak Wang,” or “King of the Returnees,” implied a female character in his comic exploits her sex appeal to get a job.
An internet user filed a petition on the Cheong Wa Dae website, Friday, urging the government to take measures to encourage Naver to stop running his webcomic.
In a recent issue of “Bokhak Wang” on Naver, female intern Bong Ji-eun is hired as a full-time worker at a conglomerate after her internship, despite her sloppy behavior and incompetence.
The hiring decision comes after her eccentric performance during a dinner with her boss and other colleagues at a seafood restaurant. When a pen shell is served, Bong volunteers to break the shell open for them to eat. She lies down on two chairs, puts the pen shell on her belly and smashes it with an unidentified long sturdy tool, as otters are known to do.
Below the image, the narrator says, “Bong tried a whole new strategy to beat her rivals, who were armed with strong educational and professional backgrounds, and survive the fierce competition to get the job. Hard work? That won't guarantee success. Hiring is not about candidates' strong educational or professional backgrounds.”
Days after the dinner, Bong is hired full-time. Near the end of the episode, Bong's boss, who is 20 years her senior, reveals in a private conversation with his colleague that he and Bong had been on a date after the dinner.
The scene showing Bong breaking the pen shell at the seafood restaurant and her boss' remarks caused readers to believe she got the job in return for sexual favors with her boss.
The suggestion that the character traded sex for employment and Kian 84's overt use of sexually suggestive imagery in his comic led to a backlash from internet users. Some also raised allegations of misogyny. MBC was also dragged into the controversy as Kian 84 is one of the co-hosts of the broadcaster's reality show “I Live Alone.” The company's bulletin board was filled with 1,500 messages from angry citizens, with some urging MBC to fire him.
As the backlash showed no signs of abating, the webcomic creator and Naver offered apologies to the public.
“We're sorry for troubling many because of the issues. We currently replaced some scenes with edited ones. Naver and Kian 84 will pay greater attention to each issue to come,” Naver wrote regarding the 303rd and 304th issues of “Bokhak Wang.”
However, Naver claimed not to have much control over Kian 84's future content, because as that could constitute censorship and a breach of his freedom of expression.
“We feel very sorry for what happened. But we are simply a platform to distribute content and thus not in a position to demand artists edit their work. What we can do is address the controversies when they occur,” an official of Naver told The Korea Times.
Kian 84 released a statement Thursday afternoon, saying “I once again apologize about inappropriate expressions in my work.”
Stressing that he intended for the female character and her actions to get the job to satirize society, adding that “I should have been more careful than I was. I sincerely apologize if my work made readers upset.”
Kian 84 is no stranger to controversy.
Last year, he repeatedly came under fire for belittling people with disabilities and immigrant workers in Korea.
In another issue of the same webcomic, he depicted a deaf character as though she was struggling with language both when speaking and thinking. Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a civic organization, criticized the depiction by saying, “The character cannot speak or think properly. This could stereotype the deaf and hard of hearing by depicting them as mentally ill as well.”
In another issue, he also depicted migrant workers as appreciative of their inhuman working environment in Korea ― such as living in squalid conditions ― by making one character say “It's great that I even got the chance to be in a seminar. I want to live here forever.”
Scenes from Kian 84's “Bokhak Wang” show a deaf character struggling with language when speaking and thinking. Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a civic organization, asked for an apology for belittling the deaf and stereotyping people with disabilities in his work. Korea Times file