Watch your fingers: Ministry revises safety infographic after pinching gesture complaints

A safety infographic distributed by the Labor Ministry on Aug. 5. The hand circled in green was the basis of two complaints over its resemblance to a finger-pinching gesture associated with misandry. (Labor Ministry)

The Ministry of Labor and Employment had to revise images in its public materials following complaints that one of the illustrations featured what some saw as a hand gesture associated with misandry, local media reported Wednesday.

The illustration was part of a safety infographic shared via Kakao Talk messenger on Aug. 5 to alert the public about recent serious industrial accidents. It detailed the safety hazards leading to the fatal fall on Aug. 2 of a worker who had been fixing roofing materials in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, and provided guidelines on preventing such falls from recurring.

The image accompanying the text showed the silhouette of a worker falling. Two complaints were filed over this image, claiming that the worker's hand appears to be making a pinching gesture.

The same safety infographic was edited and redistributed by the Labor Ministry on Aug. 20. The hand circled in green was revised after two complaints were filed. (Labor Ministry)

The ministry appears to have taken notice of these two complaints.

While the previous infographic remains unchanged — since deleting a message on KakaoTalk is only possible within five minutes — the ministry released a new infographic on Tuesday that eliminates any hint of the finger gesture in question.

This infographic content, also related to a fall incident, features an illustration of a falling person with their fingertips pressed together, avoiding the previously criticized pinching gesture.

In South Korea, many men consider the hand gesture, which mimics a pinching motion, offensive.

The two-finger gesture was first used in now-defunct feminist online community Megalia to belittle the size of Korean men's genitals as a tactic to mirror the level of scrutiny women's appearances have been subjected to in Korea, and became a major flashpoint of online debates.

In July, carmaker Renault Korea faced an online backlash after a female brand manager in a promotional video posted on YouTube was seen making the gesture. Other companies, including video game developer and publisher Nexon, LG Electronics and retailer GS25, have faced similar controversies.

By Shin Ji-hye(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)