It took three years for players to notice the "offensive" hand gesture lurking in one of South Korea's most popular multiplayer games.
When players made their avatars laugh, talk or give the "OK" sign in "Lost Ark," they clicked an icon featuring a gesture that might have appeared benign to many: an index finger nearly touching a thumb.
But some of "Lost Ark's" users began claiming in August that the gesture was a sexist insult against men, and they demanded its removal.
What happened next underscores a trend in South Korea among anti-feminists, who have been increasingly pushing companies to repent for what they see as a conspiracy within the government and private companies to promote a feminist agenda.
South Korea's young men are fighting against feminism
South Korea's young men are fighting against feminism
Smilegate - the creator of "Lost Ark" and one of South Korea's biggest video game developers - quickly complied with the requests for removal. The company removed the icon from the game, and vowed to be more vigilant about policing "game-unrelated controversies" in their products.
A gender war has been unfolding in South Korea for years, pitting feminists against angry young men who feel they're being left behind as the country seeks to address gender inequality.
Now, though, the latest development in this war is reaching a fever pitch. Since May, more than 20 brands and government organizations have removed what some see as feminist symbols from their products, after mounting pressure. At least 12 of those brands or organizations have issued an apology to placate male customers.
Anti-feminism has a years-long history in South Korea, and research suggests that such sentiments are taking hold among the country's young men. In May, the Korean marketing and research firm Hankook Research said it found that more than 77% of men in their twenties and more than 73% of men in their 30s were "repulsed by feminists or feminism," according to a survey. (The firm surveyed 3,000 adults, half of whom were men.)
The fact that corporations are responding to pressure to modify their products suggests that these anti-feminists are gaining influence in a country that is already struggling with gender issues. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that South Korea has by far the largest gender wage gap among OECD countries. And roughly 5% of board members at publicly listed companies in the country are women compared to the OECD average of nearly 27%.
A suspicious sausage
The online firestorm that has spread across South Korea's corporate landscape kicked off in May with a simple camping advertisement.
GS25, one of the country's biggest convenience store chains, released an ad that month enticing customers to order camping food on their app, promising free items as a reward. The ad showed an index finger and a thumb appearing to pinch a sausage. The finger-pinching motif is frequently used in advertising as a way to hold an item without obscuring the product.
Critics, though, saw something different in that hand signal. They accused it of being a code for feminist sympathies, tracing the use of the finger-pinching motif to 2015, when the symbol was co-opted by Megalia, a now-defunct feminist online community, to ridicule the size of Korean men's genitals.
Megalia has since shut down, but its logo has outlived the group. Now anti-feminists are trying to purge South Korea of its existence.
GS25 removed the hand symbol from the poster. But critics still weren't satisfied, and began trawling the advertisement for other feminist clues. One person pointed out that the last letter of each word featured on the poster - "Emotional Camping Must-have Item" - spelled "Megal," a shorthand for "Megalia," when read backward.
GS25 removed the text from the poster, but that still wasn't enough. People theorized that even the moon in the background of the poster was a feminist symbol, because a moon is used as the logo of a feminist scholar organization in South Korea.
After revising the poster multiple times, GS eventually pulled it entirely, just a day after the campaign launched. The company apologized and promised a better editorial process. It also said it reprimanded the staff responsible for the ad, and removed the marketing team leader.
The online mob had tasted success, and it wanted more.
Other companies and government organizations soon became targets. The online fashion retailer Musinsa was criticized for offering women-only discounts, as well as using the finger-pinching motif in an ad for a credit card. The company defended the use of that motif as a neutral element regularly used in advertising, and said its discount program was meant to help expand its small female customer base. Still, founder and CEO Cho Man-ho stepped down after the backlash.
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women's Day as part of the country's #MeToo movement in Seoul on March 8, 2018.
South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women's Day as part of the country's #MeToo movement in Seoul on March 8, 2018.
South Korea's President says he's a feminist. Three of his allies have been accused of sex crimes
Another compounding factor: Unlike women, men in South Korea have to complete up to 21 months of military service before they're 28 years old - a sore point for some men who feel unfairly burdened.
Anti-feminists have also taken umbrage with President Moon Jae-in, who, when elected in 2017, promised to be a "feminist president." Moon pledged to fix the systemic and cultural barriers that prevented women from participating more in the workforce. He also vowed to address sexual crimes in the wake of the global #MeToo movement.
This year's corporate pressure campaign adds another complication, as brands weigh the possible fallout.
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-small-engine-repair/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-girl-who-got-away/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-mayday-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-jurassic-hunt-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-stowaway-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-helmet-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-fatherhood-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-coming-2-america-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/awake-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-kissing-booth-3-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-silent-night-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-superhost-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-bad-luck-banging-or-loon/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/kaanekkaane-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-jje-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-censor-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-martyrs-lane-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-east-of-the-mountains/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-crisis-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-cyrano-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-mimi-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-warning-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-out-of-death-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/wish-dragon-2021-full-hd/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-yakuza-princess-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-black-box-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-survive-the-game-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-no-one-gets-out-alive/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-harder-they-fall/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-love-story-2021-full-2/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-last-man-down-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-chehre-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-every-breath-you-take/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-unforgivable-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-dune-world-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-bliss-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-gateway-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-zero-contact-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-false-positive-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-son-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-virtuoso-2021full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/home-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-drive-my-car-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-midnight-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-good-on-paper-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-malcolm-marie-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-moonbound-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-coming-home-in-the-dark/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-thunder-force-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-chernobyl-abyss-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-mothering-sunday-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-girl-who-killed-her/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-needle-in-a-timestack/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-wolf-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-ciape-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-trigger-point-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-spider-man-4-fan-film/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-edge-of-the-world-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-hand-of-god-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-firebird-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-je-suis-karl-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-spirit-untamed-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-how-it-ends-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-in-the-earth-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-in-the-earth-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-lansky-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-evangelion-full-hd/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-tick-tick-boom-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-bergman-island-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-rurouni-kenshin-final/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-army-of-thieves-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/finding-you-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-here-today-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-die-in-a-gunfight-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-parallel-mothers-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-madres-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-sunny-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-resort-to-love-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-yes-day-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-tender-bar-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-we-need-to-do-something/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-paranormal-activity-nex/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-shelter-in-place-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-ted-bundy-american-boog/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-risen-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-moxie-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-locked-down-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-last-mercenary-2021-2/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-forgiven-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-confessions-of-an-invisi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-tughlaq-durbar-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-outside-the-wire-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-haseen-dillruba-2021/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-encounter-2021-full-movi/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-the-boy-who-killed-my-pa/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-pleasure-2021-full-movie/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-space-sweepers-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-man-of-god-2021-full/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-major-grom-plague-docto/
https://www.pas.ec/community/profile/watch-together-together-2021/