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MBC mutes Reform Party candidate Lee Jun-seok during debate due to sexually explicit remarks

Published: 29 May. 2025, 14:21

Lee Jun-seok speaks to reporters after a campaign stop in Yeouido Park in western Seoul on May 28. [YONHAP]

MBC muted a portion of Reform Party presidential candidate Lee Jun-seok's remarks involving graphic references to women’s bodies during a televised debate, citing the content’s inappropriateness.

Roughly 70 seconds of audio — between the 1:11:00 and 1:12:10 marks — were silenced in the full video of the third presidential debate posted to MBC’s official YouTube channel. The muted section occurred during Lee’s allotted speaking time.

During the exchange, Lee made sexually explicit remarks related to women's bodies while questioning Kwon Young-gook, the candidate from the left-wing Democratic Labor Party, about whether the phrase constituted misogyny.

Lee Jun-seok claimed that the expression had appeared in online comments allegedly written by the son of liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, but his remarks drew immediate backlash for their inappropriateness.

“As the host broadcaster, MBC regrets that inappropriate sexually explicit remarks by one candidate caused public controversy during a presidential debate, and we took pre-emptive measures accordingly,” an MBC spokesperson said.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea said Thursday that it had received 35 petitions claiming human rights violations in relation to Lee Jun-seok's comments.

Petitioners argued that the remarks amounted to “premeditated hate speech” and could not be dismissed as a mere slip of the tongue or mistake. The commission said it would first review whether the complaints merit investigation before deciding to proceed.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE HAY-JUNE [[email protected]]