'Misogyny Controversy' Surrounds Kian84, Public Backlash... Leads to Variety Show Withdrawal and Webtoon Serialization Suspension

Webtoon artist Kian84 (real name Kim Heemin). Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] Webtoon artist Kian84 (real name Kim Hee-min) has been embroiled in a controversy over misogyny, with a flood of posts demanding his withdrawal appearing on the viewer board of the variety show he is currently appearing on. Additionally, a national petition urging the suspension of the serialization of Kian84's controversial webtoon "Return to School King" has been posted.

The controversy was triggered by episode 304 of Kian84's "Return to School King," released on Naver Webtoon on the 11th. This episode included content suggesting that the female protagonist, corporate intern Bong Ji-eun, became a full-time employee after having a sexual relationship with her male superior. Previously, the character Bong Ji-eun was depicted as using charm as a weapon to compensate for her lack of work ability.

In particular, a scene containing a sexual metaphor where Bong Ji-eun breaks a shell placed on her stomach during the last company dinner includes the sentence, "It was not about academic background, specs, or effort level, but her cells wanted to work." Immediately after, the explanation "Bong Ji-eun, final acceptance to Kian Group" was added.

Following this, a setting was created where Bong Ji-eun starts dating a male team leader in his 40s.

The webtoon "Bokhakwang" by writer Kian84 has been embroiled in controversy over misogyny, leading to a flood of posts demanding Kian84's withdrawal on the viewer board of MBC's entertainment program "I Live Alone." Photo by MBC entertainment program "I Live Alone" viewer board capture

Some netizens who saw this left comments under the webtoon such as, "Is Kian's conclusion that Bong Ji-eun gets into a large corporation despite lacking ability because she dated someone in a higher position?", "If you're going to satirize, do it properly. I think you know well why this is controversial," and "Freedom of expression does not mean freedom to hate," criticizing Kian84's misogyny.

As the controversy intensified, the Naver Webtoon service manager issued a statement through the artist, saying, "We sincerely apologize for causing concern with the work. The manuscript has been revised and reflected with the corrections made by the artist," and added, "We will be more careful with various issues handled in future works together with the artist."

Criticism toward Kian84 spread to demands for his withdrawal from the variety show he is appearing on. As of 2 p.m. on the 13th, more than 2,000 protest posts were posted on the viewer board of MBC's variety show "I Live Alone." Most contained calls for Kian84's withdrawal.

Viewers left comments such as, "I don't understand why someone who has been involved in controversies multiple times is not removed," "He clearly disparaged women," "It is unacceptable for someone who draws low-quality webtoons to appear on terrestrial TV," and "We strongly demand the withdrawal of Kian84, who has a gender sensitivity that regresses with the times," criticizing Kian84's controversy.

On the 12th, a petition demanding the suspension of the webtoon "Bokhakwang," which has been embroiled in a controversy over misogyny, was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. Photo by Blue House National Petition Post Capture

Moreover, a post titled "*** Request to suspend webtoon serialization" was uploaded on the Blue House national petition board on the 12th.

The petitioner pointed out, "I saw a ridiculous scene where the female protagonist of the ** webtoon has a sexual relationship with a corporate team leader who is 20 years older and gets hired," adding, "This artist is quite well-known and popular enough to rank high on Naver Webtoon, so readers of various age groups must have seen it."

They continued, "There are numerous comments saying that the content of women getting jobs through sexual relationships is social satire," and explained, "This artist has had ongoing controversies, and I thought this episode was serious enough to surpass those controversies, so I posted it on the petition board."

They added, "I hope the artist draws webtoons with a sense of identity and awareness as a webtoon artist."

This petition had gained over 60,000 supporters as of 2:30 p.m. on the 13th.

Meanwhile, following the controversy, some parts of the episode were revised. The shell, which was criticized as a sexual metaphor, was changed to a snow crab, and Bong Ji-eun's posture was altered to hitting the snow crab on the table with a brick.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.