S Korea official faces backlash for gay slur

SEOUL: A senior official in South Korea’s new government was in hot water yesterday after apparently endorsing conversion therapy while trying to apologise for previously comparing homosexuality to mental illness.

South Korea’s conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol, who was sworn in Tuesday, is an avowed antifeminist who on the campaign trail promised to abolish the Ministry of Gender Equality. His newly appointed religion and multicultural secretary, Kim Seong-hoi, was forced to apologise this week over a 2019 Facebook post where he said homosexuality is “a type of mental illness”, and he appeared to endorse gay conversion therapy.