Lee Jun-seok, the presidential candidate of the minor conservative New Reform Party (pictured), is facing strong public backlash for explicitly quoting a remark related to online sexual violence during the final televised presidential debate aired on May 27. Numerous complaints and calls for his withdrawal from the race have followed.

On the 28th, the civic group “Political Mamas” held a press conference in front of the Seoul Police Headquarters in Seodaemun-gu to announce their collective complaint against Lee’s remarks about sexual crimes during the presidential debate and submitted a complaint. In the complaint, they accused Lee of violating Article 110 of the Public Official Election Act (defamation by candidates), Article 44-7 of the Information and Communications Network Act (distribution of illegal content), and Article 17 of the Child Welfare Act (emotional abuse harmful to children’s mental health and development). They called for a stern response. A total of 37,728 citizens who participated in an online petition were listed as complainants. The liberal Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) also filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, accusing Lee of spreading false information and defaming other candidates in violation of the Public Official Election Act.

Individual legal actions have also been taken. Attorney Kim Kyung-ho of Hoein Law Firm wrote on social media that he had filed a complaint against Lee for violating the election law, saying, “The law prohibits publicly degrading or insulting a specific gender during election campaigns.” Attorney Lee Byung-chul of Chanjong Law Firm also said he had filed a complaint against Lee for “criminal defamation and candidate defamation under the election law.”

The Korea Women’s Hotline criticized Lee in a statement, saying, “Lee quoted a violent expression about women’s bodies under the guise of a question,” and added, “This act of amplifying expressions that demean and enact violence against women cannot be tolerated.” The Feminist Solidarity to End Gender-Based Violence said, “Last winter, feminist activists who led then President Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment protests cried out that ‘the dismissal of Yoon must also be the end of misogynistic politics,’” and added, “This presidential debate trampled on hopes for a new political era free of misogyny and violence against women, leaving insult and disappointment.”

Heo Min-sook, a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service, criticized Lee’s remarks, saying, “He deliberately used the most brutal form of sexual violence as a means of attack” and warned, “If such reproduction of sexual violence in a public setting goes unpunished, it sets a dangerous precedent.”

During the televised debate hosted by the National Election Broadcasting Debate Commission on the 27th, Lee quoted a sexual violence-related post online in the form of a question directed at Kwon Young-gook, a candidate from the progressive Democratic Labor Party, saying, “Is this misogyny, or not?”