'No women allowed': Men's restroom sign at highway rest stop sparks debate

A sign barring women from entering a men's restroom at a highway rest stop during the Chuseok holiday has gone viral, sparking a heated debate online.

A photo posted Monday to an online community under the title "Rest stop update during the holiday" shows a notice affixed to the men's restroom door at an unidentified rest stop. The image was shared by a user identified only as A.

The sign read: "We are receiving a flood of complaints. Only men should use the men's restroom. Women are asked to please use the women's restroom."

A said she had stopped at the rest stop while heading to Yeosu early Monday morning, stuck in traffic, when she came across the sign. "Isn't this going too far? But then again, is there even a way to solve this?" she wrote.

The notice appeared to stem from a recurring problem at the rest stop, where some women had been using the men's restroom due to long lines at the women's facilities.

Reactions among online users were divided. Some invoked gender-equality standards, writing: "If the situation were reversed, a man would end up at the police station and on the news — why do women just get a pass?"; "It's absurd to see ajumma walking into the men's room just because the women's line is long"; "I was embarrassed watching foreign visitors look shocked"; and "A woman walking into a men's restroom where everything is exposed is obviously a sex crime."

Others pushed back, however. "The women's restroom at a holiday rest stop is hell — I've waited up to 30 minutes before," one user wrote. Others added: "It's not like women are in there installing hidden cameras" and "Why are people being so petty about this?"