A male World Cup reporter from South Korea who was kissed by female fans has sparked a sexual harassment debate in China.
As reported by BBC, a social media debate in China about sexual harassment has been triggered after a male South Korean reporter was kissed by female fans during a live World Cup segment.
In the clip, MBN reporter Jeon Gwang-ryeol is seen broadcasting from Russia when he is grabbed and kissed by two female fans. Jeon laughs off the kisses but appears embarrassed.
On Weibo, users are asking why the female fans are not being criticised in the same way as their male counterparts would be.
Towards the end of June, Colombian correspondent Julieth Gonzalez Theran who was reporting on the World Cup was grabbed and kissed by male fans, resulting in outrage.
“It is a very sharp contrast with the previous news,” one Weibo user said.
“Why is this not sexual harassment?” asked another, whose comment received hundreds of likes.
“If it’s a good looking person (kissing), it’s not called sexual harassment,” one person wrote.
Some also “called for equality between men and women.”
Others expressed concern with the media describing the women in the clip as “beauties”.
A South Korean Twitter user also wrote, “regardless of your gender, you get sexually harassed. An MBN journalist went to Russia to cover the World Cup and he was sexually harassed by two women.”
