NOT AMUSED

South Korea President Shuns Tokyo Olympics After ‘Masturbating’ Furor

A top Japanese diplomat offended the president with a lewd analogy.

Is this the worst ever diplomatic breakdown over a joke about jacking off? South Korean President Moon Jae-in has decided to shun the Tokyo Olympics after a senior diplomat at Japan’s embassy in Seoul described the president’s faltering attempts to improve the relationship between the two countries as “masturbating.” The Tokyo visit would have seen Moon’s first summit with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, and there had been hopes that it could be a fresh start for the two rival nations. However, the lewd comment infuriated the South Korean government, with its vice foreign minister, Choi Jong-kun, summoning Japan Ambassador Koichi Aiboshi to make a formal complaint over the weekend. “President Moon has decided not to visit Japan,” Moon’s press secretary Park Soo-hyun told a briefing, without specifically mentioning the “masturbation” comment. “As the Tokyo Olympics is a peaceful festival for all people around the world, we hope that Japan will host it safely and successfully.”