Promotional material for disaster basic income application method posted on Gyeonggi-do's official Twitter on the 1st. Photo by Gyeonggi-do Twitter capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Nahana] Gyeonggi Province issued an apology on social media after facing criticism for promoting disaster basic income by parodying characters from the Japanese animation 'Digimon'.
Earlier on the 1st, Gyeonggi Province posted a promotional material on its official Twitter account introducing local currencies by city and county. The promotional material featured four characters holding cards in their hands, shouting "I am a credit card," "I am Yongin-WayPay," "I am SuwonPay," and "I am Gyeonggi local currency card."
Netizens pointed out that the composition of the promotional material and the way the characters covered one eye with the card in their hands were exactly the same as the Japanese animation 'Digimon.' Additionally, there were accusations such as "Isn't this unauthorized use of Japanese animation?" and "Isn't this pro-Japanese?"
On the 7th, Gyeonggi Province posted an official apology on social media under the name of the Public Relations Planning Officer, stating, "We sincerely apologize to the public who were offended by the parody content related to the Digimon animation."
They continued, "As interest in the second disaster basic income increased, we received criticism for parodying Japanese animation. Without any excuse, this content failed to consider public sentiment and was immediately deleted."
They explained, "We created the parody animation content showing the main characters choosing different cards to emphasize the variety of credit cards and local currencies available. We newly created illustrations and naively thought there would be no problem by only referencing the concept."
The province concluded, "We acknowledge and reflect on the shortcomings in the content production process and promise not to repeat the same mistake in the future."
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