Police to Revise Controversial 'Prostitution' Pictogram Depicting Hugging Couple

The Korean National Police Agency has initiated immediate corrective work after criticism arose over inappropriate pictograms depicting crime types on its Cyber Bureau reporting system (ECRM).

The controversial screen features pictograms for various crime types in a guide designed to help citizens conveniently file cases online.

Criticism was raised that the 'prostitution' category used an image of a man and a woman embracing, while the 'extortion' category used an image specifying the victim as a woman, thereby reinforcing gender stereotypes.

Netizens who encountered the posts expressed frustration, commenting, "It clearly shows how the police view prostitution" and "Why is a man and woman hugging supposed to be prostitution?"

In addition, criticisms continued that overall communicative effectiveness was lacking, such as 'drugs' being drawn like an unidentified clump of dust.

Choi Sungho, president of the Korea Public Design Association, pointed out, "Public pictograms must secure universality that people of all ages and genders, as well as foreigners, can understand," adding, "The National Police Agency's prostitution pictogram fails to deliver immediate information."

Kim Hong-miri, a senior research fellow at the Korean Women's Development Institute, also emphasized, "The prostitution pictogram portrays it like a romance without conveying the meaning of exploitation," and "Pictograms used by state agencies must accurately convey the meaning of crimes and be reviewed for discriminatory elements."

As the criticism spread, the National Police Agency acknowledged that it failed to closely filter out inappropriate elements during the 2020 overhaul.

An official from the National Police Agency stated, "It fails to clearly convey the type of crime and appears problematic in terms of gender concepts," adding, "We will change or replace the problematic pictograms with text and re-examine the system as a whole."

(Photo: Capture of the National Police Agency Cyber Bureau (ECRM) homepage, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.