Explanation: "Produced by a Paid Site"
News1 reported on the 23rd that a poster encouraging blood donation among military personnel became controversial for featuring a "raised index finger" salute image, which is treated as a 'misandry' expression.
The controversy arose from a poster provided by the Gyeongnam Blood Center to the Air Force 3rd Training Flight Group located in Sacheon, Gyeongnam. It was created as part of the "Summer Blood Donation Event" to encourage blood donations among military personnel and was scheduled to be posted within the unit during the Love Blood Donation Campaign period from the 31st of last month to the 2nd of this month.
The poster depicts a character holding a rifle with the left hand while seemingly giving a salute with the right hand. A proper salute requires the palm to be fully open with fingers aligned straight and visible from the front, but this character’s hand is shaped with the index finger raised. The raised index finger, shaped like the Korean consonant "디귿" (digeut, ㄷ), was the logo of the internet community Megalia, which existed from 2015 to 2017. It mocked the size of Korean men’s genitalia and also served a mirroring purpose.
In response, complaints claiming that the poster fueled gender conflict were filed with the Gyeongnam Blood Center and the Ministry of National Defense. Consequently, the 3rd Training Flight Group recalled and destroyed all posters posted within the unit. The Gyeongnam Blood Center also issued an official apology explaining the circumstances of the poster’s production. They stated, "We used a paid website to produce the blood donation promotional poster. We immediately raised the issue with the site and had the image removed." They added, "We apologize for causing misunderstanding due to the specific image used in this blood donation event promotional poster."
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