Gyeongsan gov't apologizes for 'voting encouragement' video in which supervisor beats employee
Published: 29 May. 2025, 20:40
![A screen capture from a promotional video created by the Gyeongsan city government for the 21st presidential election [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/29/68a41d12-d420-456d-8cc2-f1fa1f5f5e55.jpg)
A screen capture from a promotional video created by the Gyeongsan city government for the 21st presidential election [SCREEN CAPTURE]
One promotional video gone really awry — the government of Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, apologized for a video encouraging locals to vote in the presidential election that portrayed a young woman being beaten up by her superior.
Following public backlash, the city removed the video and issued a formal apology.
On Monday, the city uploaded a 49-second video titled “Presidential Election Voting Encouragement Video” to its YouTube channel. In the video, a male supervisor is seen crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it at a female subordinate, pressing her forehead with his finger and striking her on the head with a file folder.
In one scene, after the female employee bites the supervisor’s finger in frustration, a caption appears that reads, “Don’t bite — ask about the candidate’s policies.”
Another scene shows the same supervisor grabbing the woman’s hair after she teases him about his thinning hair, followed by the message, “Don’t pick on others — pick your rights.”
In a separate clip, after the woman is seen gossiping about the supervisor via messenger, another co-worker observes the exchange and removes her desk. The video ends with the line, “Don’t take shots at others — take a shot at hope for tomorrow.”
![An apology by the Gyeongsan City government for creating a controversial promotional video for the 21st presidential election [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/05/29/a2b10109-e4ba-4b99-9fbd-664d15fd0acf.jpg)
An apology by the Gyeongsan City government for creating a controversial promotional video for the 21st presidential election [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Viewers who watched the video voiced strong criticism, with comments reading: “Violence is being portrayed as comedy,” “This has nothing to do with encouraging voting,” “Victims of workplace harassment would find this incredibly upsetting” and “It’s shocking that this was produced by a local government.”
As the controversy grew, the city made the video private on Tuesday, just one day after its release, and posted an apology on Wednesday.
“We sincerely apologize to anyone who may have felt uncomfortable watching the video,” the city said in a statement. It explained that the video was a parody of an existing advertisement with the theme, “Even if something looks similar, the result can be completely different.”
The city stressed that all scenes in the video were fictional and claimed there was no intention to promote violence or hatred. It added that the inappropriate scenes resulted from a revision process in which the concept was altered by staff members who were concerned that more direct references to voting or political parties might be perceived as biased.
“We failed to recognize that the content could make viewers uncomfortable,” the city said. “We want to clarify once again that there was absolutely no intention to incite violence or hatred.”
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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