The nation’s most popular political podcast, “Naneun Ggomsuda,” has started a fresh round of dispute as one of its male supporters posted a nude photo of himself in response to the mounting criticism of the racy campaign to free one of the hosts from jail.

The fire reignited on Thursday when 37-year-old Choi Young-min posted a photograph of himself naked with “I am serious,” and “Bring back my model!” written across his body on a website dedicated to Chung Bong-ju. 

Chung is a panelist on the show who has been imprisoned since December for slandering President Lee Myung-bak.

Choi, a professional photographer, referred to the jailed former politician as his model because he has taken many photos of him.

“I cannot help but laugh at the immaturity of society still arguing about feminism over some bikini photos,” he wrote in a message posted on the website.

On the same day, Lee Bo-gyeong, a senior reporter for the terrestrial broadcaster MBC, posted on her Twitter account a picture of her wearing a bikini with “Free Chung Bong-ju,” written on her chest.

“The bikini photos were more of a joke. I thought people are being overly strict about women posting bikini shots,” she explained in a media interview.

Choi and Lee were referring to the recent row over comments made by the other hosts of the podcast regarding “bikini pictures” posted by women supporters. They have come under fire for encouraging women to post the photos on the campaign website in order to draw public attention toward Chung.

“Chung has been taking pills to dampen his libido,” program director Kim Yong-min said. “So ladies, feel free to send your bikini photos.”

Another panelist, Ju Jin-wu, posted a photo on his Twitter account showing him writing a message to Chung saying, “I really like the ‘breast photos.’ Don’t get too aroused!”

Their remarks prompted criticism from women’s rights activists.

The shot of Choi, an ardent fan of Chung, is seen as an attempt to counter the condemnation. But it has triggered more criticism, even from progressives who support the show.

“It seems that the program has chosen to make poor excuses over the bikini dispute rather than to apologize for it,” said Chin Joong-kwon, a political pundit, on his Twitter account.

Kim Yu-bin, a 31-year-old bank clerk and fan of the show, said she was disappointed.

“No matter how politically progressive you are, men cannot get away with chauvinist ways of dealing with women,” she said.

Kim Eo-jun, the main host of the show, said he will make an official announcement through the program if necessary, but remained tightlipped about the controversy in the latest episode released on Wednesday.

“I don’t think it was sexual harassment. Some of the facts have been misplaced. We will talk about it on the next episode,” he said to a local daily.

Meanwhile, “Naneun Ggomsuda” was deemed pro-North Korea media by the government, and is banned from distribution among soldiers.

According to local media, a subordinate unit of the Army Logistics Command last Tuesday compiled a list of eight smartphone applications that are prohibited from soldiers’ devices and Ggomsuda was among them.

A military official said the move was to enhance cyber security and claimed that army headquarters did not issue the order. Opponents said that the program has never praised nor spoken in favor of the communist state and that the prohibition is a political tactic to block soldiers from the liberal program.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)