Seoul: The presidential candidate of the minor New Reform Party (NRP), Lee Jun-seok, on Thursday defended his use of explicit language about a woman's body, claiming his remark was not misogyny.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Lee, who was running third in opinion polls, has been under fire for his comment made during Tuesday night's debate, in which he asked Kwon Young-kook, the Democratic Labor Party candidate, whether an online comment about sticking chopsticks into a woman's body part could be considered misogynistic.
Several civic groups condemned Lee's remarks as "obscene verbal violence" that caused discomfort to viewers, with some filing complaints and urging Lee to withdraw from the race. "The expression was not something I created, but rather a toned-down version of a post that Lee Dong-ho, the son of candidate Lee Jae-myung, uploaded to an online community," Lee said at a press conference.
"I replaced the words with relatively neutral language, but the original expressions were so vulgar and obscene that there were limits to how much they could be refined. I sincerely apologize to anyone who still felt uncomfortable," he added. Lee said his question was meant to scrutinize the Democratic Party candidate's family, noting that Lee Dong-ho was fined last year for violating the law with his inappropriate online posts and is also facing allegations of illegal gambling.
"My question was not intended to provoke, but was part of a step-by-step verification process," he said. Lee also urged civic groups to drop their legal actions, asking: "Which part of my question expressed hatred? Who should really be held accountable as a sexual offender?"