A common hand gesture in a South Korean army recruitment poster has prompted scrutiny of a little-known cultural sensitivity in the country.

In the poster, a female model in a combat uniform poses with her hand resting under her chin. All quite innocent – except her thumb and index finger form a shape that many South Koreans associate with man-hating, according to The Korea Herald.

The finger pinching gesture is known as the “Megalian hand”, after the radical South Korean feminist group that adopted it as its logo. Its shape is seen as a mockery of male genitalia.

Cultural psychologist Han Min told the newspaper that fringe groups often adopted seemingly benign gestures to pass on coded messages in their public content.

“Groups that direct hate at specific targets often create their own symbols or coded language and slip them into advertisements and TV programmes, gaining a sense of superiority or victory from the fact that the public is exposed to their messages without realising it,” he said.

“They know that what they say and do is wrong. That is why they express it through anonymous hand gestures.”