Incheon sign language sculpture covered up after residents call it 'offensive'

A sculpture depicting sign language along the waterfront in Incheon’s Songdo International City has drawn mounting complaints, with some residents wrongly identifying its finger positions with offensive gestures, news reports said Monday.

Standing 4 to 5 meters tall and about 3 meters wide, the sculpture takes the form of a hand with the middle and ring fingers folded down and the other fingers extended — the American Sign Language gesture for "I love you."

The Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority installed the sculpture earlier this month along the waterfront at Long Beach Park in Landmark City, on the northern end of Songdo, as a photo spot for visitors.

The sculpture, made of glass fiber-reinforced concrete cost about 200 million won ($144,000) to produce, officials said.

But what was intended as a gesture of love has been mistaken by some residents as an insult.

"From a distance, it looks like someone giving the middle finger, while from the side, it resembles an offensive hand gesture associated with Ilbe. If they wanted to use sign language, they should have chosen a gesture that was less likely to cause controversy," a Songdo resident surnamed Cho wrote on a Naver blog.

Ilbe is a far-right online community known for misogynistic and other hateful content. Its members have used a hand gesture with the thumb and index finger forming a circle and the middle and little fingers outstretched, resembling the community’s logo.

Others questioned the relevance of the statue to the location.

"The sign language theme itself is fine, but it has nothing to do with Incheon, so I’m not sure what it is supposed to mean to tourists," another user wrote on Threads.

As complaints mounted, authorities covered the sculpture with a tarp and began work on improvements.

"We plan to better explain to residents that the sculpture is intended to convey a message of love, including by installing an information plaque," an IFEZ official said.

The controversy, however, has prompted a different response from the local deaf community, which has pointed out that the sculpture could help promote sign language and disability awareness.

"While the sculpture has caused some misunderstanding and concern, its meaning should be better explained rather than simply removing it," the Yeonsu-gu branch of the Incheon Association of the Deaf said in a statement.

"With visitors from around the world coming to Incheon, the 'I love you' sign could help promote disability awareness and cross-cultural communication."