Jeju Youth Center promo video slammed for calling female staff 'young lady' and cursing after rejection

The Financial News: Jeju Youth Center, a platform that supports activities by young people in the Jeju region, has come under fire for sexism and other issues after releasing a promotional video.
On the 18th, Jeju Youth Center uploaded a promotional video recruiting club members at the center to its official social media accounts.
The video is a parody with rewritten lyrics to singer Song Chang-sik's song "Girl at the Cigarette Shop." It includes lines such as "At Jeju Youth Center, the young lady is so pretty" and "Young men from all over Jeju keep peeking in and out. But that young lady is so aloof."
The problem is that a female staff member is referred to as a "young lady," and the video shows young men repeatedly visiting the center just to see her. In particular, one scene shows a man being rejected by the woman and then clearly forming a mouth shape as if hurling a derogatory curse at her, which further fueled the controversy.
The video spread via social media platforms such as Instagram and X, and online users reacted with criticism, saying, "This is an outdated, sexist video," "Are young people all men, and is the female staff member just an object of sexual harassment?", "So only men count as youth? If a woman turns you down, you swear at her? What were they thinking when they filmed this?", and "I was even more shocked by the mouth clearly forming a curse word."
As the backlash grew, Jeju Youth Center deleted the video.
Through Instagram, the center explained, "We planned the promotional video around the theme of people meeting people, by parodying the well-known song 'Girl at the Cigarette Shop,'" adding, "We tried to preserve expressions from the original lyrics, but we failed to fully consider that this could cause discomfort."
It continued, "Once we recognized the problem, we deleted the video," and apologized, saying, "We are sorry for causing discomfort with expressions that evoke profanity in the video. We will be careful to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future."
The center later posted a formal apology on Instagram.
The center stated, "We bow our heads in deep apology to the young people and residents who felt great hurt and discomfort because of the promotional video," and acknowledged, "We acutely realize that gender sensitivity was severely lacking in the production process for this content."
It went on, "We will take strict measures regarding those involved in planning and approving the video," and added, "We will further strengthen and provide professional gender-sensitivity training for all staff."

The center also said, "For all videos we produce going forward, we will ensure that they undergo a gender impact assessment for promotional materials by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province," and added, "We once again apologize for letting you down."
Jeju Youth Center, meanwhile, is a youth support platform established and operated under Article 19 of the Jeju-do Youth Basic Ordinance. Its activities include supporting youth projects and community activities, assisting with youth job-seeking, running Jeju Youth School and a youth teaching practicum program, and operating a youth lounge space.

newssu@fnnews.com Kim Soo-yeon Reporter