Watch: Philippines' Duterte under fire after he kisses woman at event

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has come under fire after he kissed an overseas Filipina worker on the lips during a live event.

The incident happened when he was addressing a crowd in South Korea when he called the woman on stage and convinced her to kiss him. Of course, this was not taken well by the people as feminists denounced what they called his "perverted way" of taunting his female critics.

Many Filipinos, however, thought it was a harmless kiss intended to be fun.

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The 73-year-old Duterte, whose critics have labeled him a misogynist and say his comments are derogatory and demeaning towards women, dismissed the kiss as just a "gimmick" to entertain supporters at a meet-and-greet event in Seoul.

Social media was abuzz with photos and videos of Duterte on stage before a crowd of Filipinos on Sunday night, when he asked an unidentified audience member to kiss him in exchange for a book he was handing out.

The woman, who admitted she is married and appeared excited to see Duterte in person, agreed.

Duterte then told the cheering crowd of about 3,000: "Don't take it seriously. It's just for fun, a gimmick."

State-run Philippine News Agency identified the woman as Bea Kim and posted a brief video interview with her on its Facebook page.

"There wasn't malice in it," she said. "For me, for him, it didn't mean anything."

It is not the first time Duterte has been accused of inappropriate behaviour towards women.

Duterte's controversial remarks about women include numerous jokes about rape and have incensed activists and foreigners, most notably, Chelsea Clinton, the daughter of former USPresident Bill Clinton. But none have dented the hugely popular leader's domestic support.