Korean Women's Rights Promotion Agency 'Abusive Tweet' Controversy... "Confusion with Employee's Personal Account" Explanation

"Controversy Over Post-Coming Out 'Parents Are Like X, Tell Me How to Endure' Post"

A post that caused controversy was uploaded on the official Twitter of the Korea Women's Rights Promotion Agency on the 13th. Photo by Korea Women's Rights Promotion Agency Twitter screen capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] A controversy has arisen after a profanity was posted and then deleted on the official Twitter account of the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute, a public institution under the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The Institute explained, "This issue occurred because the staff member confused their personal account with the institution's account."

On the afternoon of the 13th, a post appeared on the official Twitter account of the Women's Human Rights Institute saying, "Please share some tips on how to endure the X-like behavior of parents after coming out." Coming out refers to the act of a sexual minority revealing their sexual identity. In the post, 'X' is a vulgar term referring to the male genitalia.

The problematic post was soon deleted, but criticism continued as screenshots of the post spread online.

Netizens responded with comments such as, "How can someone say such things about their parents?", "This is a public institution's account, not a personal one; did they post without any verification?", and "They openly insulted their parents on a social media platform viewed by the public, so this issue should not be resolved merely by disciplinary action." The problematic post has since been deleted.

Photo by Korea Women's Rights Promotion Agency, Twitter screenshot.

As the controversy grew, the Women's Human Rights Institute explained on Twitter and in a press release on the 14th, "It has been confirmed that the post was made because the staff member confused their personal account with the institution's account." They added, "We sincerely apologize" and "We will strive to prevent recurrence."

Regarding the staff member who posted the problematic message, they stated, "We plan to take strict measures such as providing recurrence prevention training and disciplining according to regulations."

They also emphasized, "We will thoroughly review all posts before publishing on the official account, strictly enforce logging out of accounts outside of working hours, and establish safe management procedures for the institution's official accounts."

Meanwhile, the Korea Women's Human Rights Institute was established as a foundation in 2009 and designated as a public institution in January 2014.

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