South Korea acting a little like its neighbor to the north.
We all think our jobs are terrible at some point or another, but at least most places allow their employees to have opinions.
But not South Korea’s PC gaming companies Nexon, Naddic Games, or A.storm, where they recently announced that they will be “replacing” Jayeon Kim, a voice actress for the MMORPGs Closers and Hero Warz, after she caused a controversy online by tweeting a picture of herself wearing a feminist t-shirt.
Here is the scandalous tweet in all of its shock-inducing horror:
"I don't need a hero. I need a friend."
— 성우 김자연 (@KNKNOKU) July 18, 2016
Star vs. the Forces of Evil EP08 pic.twitter.com/79CeIBGVSt
…wait, what? That’s it?
Yep. The shirt is for the Korean website Megalian4, a spinoff of the popular Korean feminist site Megalian which promotes gender equality and an end to misogyny. Megalian’s anonymous users tend to mirror sexist comments made online by reversing the gender, which has won them plenty of enemies both on and off the internet.
Even though Kim expressed that she isn’t a member of Megalian and doesn’t have any strong feelings about it, she said she is willing to take responsibility if she did anything wrong. Because apparently tweeting a picture of yourself wearing a t-shirt in your free time is wrong in the eyes of the internet hivemind and these companies.
You might think that’s ridiculous, but it’s important to keep in mind that South Korea has a rather low ranking in terms of gender equality. And here are a few things that are illegal in South Korea: pornography (yes, even Poképorn!), showing too much skin in public, and, up until 2015, even adultery.
We can’t help wondering if all this contributes to 80-percent of young people in South Korea wanting to move somewhere else.
(Edit: A previous version of this article stated that KOG Games runs the MMORPG Hero Warz. KOG Games is unrelated to this issue; Hero Warz is run by A.storm in Korea. Naddic Games also runs the Korean MMORPG Closer. The article has been updated accordingly.)
Source: Kotaku, Real Koreans
Featured image: Twitter/@KNKNOKU
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