

By Yi Whan-woo

A promotional video produced by The National Election Commission (NEC) featuring popular hallyu star Seolhyun, has prompted a storm of protest from a women's rights group who say it portrays female voters in a sexist and derogatory way.

The Korean Women's Association United is demanding that the NEC drop the commercial, the second of a three stage TV campaign.

"The TV advertisement depicts female voters as selfish and lacking civic awareness as well as disinterested in the election," the civic group said in a statement issued on Monday.

In the ad, Seolhyun, who is currently the NEC's honorary ambassador, asks female voters to be as meticulous when casting their ballot as they are when choosing cosmetics.

In another clip, she plays younger sister to an older brother. The brother is disgruntled with her for trying to skip their mother's birthday celebration, which is on the Election Day.

Another of the commission's promotional clips, intended to encourage young people to vote in the April 13 general election, has also backfired because viewers say that it is sexist toward females.

One of the controversial campaign ads, currently going viral on YouTube and other video-sharing websites features what appears to be an "obscene discussion" between a man and a woman on a blind date.

The man appears to misunderstand that the woman is sexually interested in him when she says "I want to do it with you but can't because it's not the day yet." But it turns out that the woman means she wants to wait until Election Day and cast her ballot with him.

"The word ‘integrity' simply does not suit this government," wrote one citizen on the portal website Daum.

Another user commented, "I can't believe that such a piece of garbage is a campaign commercial for a national election."

The rights group is demanding that the NEC drop the two disputed TV commercials, issue an apology and ensure that its other advertisements do not fail to take women seriously.

An NEC official said its Internet commercial was intended to draw attention from online community users in their 20s and 30s before the parliamentary election, citing that voter turnout has been lower compared to that of older age groups.

"We did not expect our online commercial to cause trouble on the Internet," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The NEC deleted the disputed advertisement from YouTube Thursday, but it is still available on other websites.

The NEC said it will not make any comment concerning the demands made by the Korean Women's Association United demand on advertisements featuring Seolhyun.