HOMOSEXUALITYIN SOUTHKOREABarbara Bedekovi Oddelek za azijske tudije Uvod u vzhodnoazijske tudije; 1. letnik Ljubljana, 2017. Table of contents Table of contents........................................................................................................2 Summary.....................................................................................................................3 1. Introduction............................................................................................................4 2. History.....................................................................................................................5 2.1. Ancient Korea..............................................................................................5 2.2. Recent History.............................................................................................6 3. Homosexuality in South Korea Today......................................................................7 3.1. Discussion of Identity, the Principle of “ t ask, don’ Don’ ............................7 t tell” 3.2. Homosexuality in Media................................................................................9 4. Conclusion................................................................................................................10 Sources.........................................................................................................................11 Summary While there is a lot of talk and many open discussion on gay rights and LGBTissues in general all over the world, some countrieshave already developed their discourse on these issues, and have a very prominent, visible and transparent fight for equal rights, while some countries of the world have not yet reached that level. From anti-discrimination lawsto marriage equality, many countrieshave put in place lawsand regulations in order to protect the LGBTpopulation, whereas in some countriesadditional anti-gay lawshave put in place. In South Korea, the discourse on LGBTissues and the discourse concerning homosexuality somewhat differsfrom the western discourse, asit asks different questions. Throughout itshistory, the Korean peninsula has been heavily influenced by religion, especially Confucianism that shows in the Korean society to this day. For a long time, no information could be found on homosexuality in Korea, as it was considered a taboo. Only with the more visible and louder discussion on LGBT issues has it been possible to find out more about the homosexuality and how it was viewed in Korea’ s history; from eunuchs, hwarangs, to so called “ boy-wives”. Contrary to a belief stating that homosexuality has been imported into Korea by foreigners, it has existed and has been recorded in history. Today in South Korea the conversation about homosexuality can be put in simple terms as“ Don’t ask, don’ t tell policy” . While being a brimming subculture, the LGBT population in South Korea still mostly stays in their safe spaces with very little thought on entering the mainstream. Key words: homosexuality, hwarang, LGBT, Confucianism, heteronormativity 1. Introduction Not too long ago the issue of homosexuality and gay rights, as well asLGBTpopulation was a taboo subject in the Western countries. Only in the recent decades has the world population been familiarized with the problematics and dynamicsof the LGBTcommunity, as their fight for civil rights and freedomsas well asequality in society have gained wide public attention and coverage, not just in the Western countries, but worldwide. Many debates have already been witnessed, and while some countrieshave moved quite a bit in their normalization and representation of LGBTpopulation, in many countriesof the world homosexuality isstill a thing not to be mentioned, not to be talked about, and in some even illegal. So far, along with the United States of America, which passed the federal law making same-sex marriage legal acrossall the states on June 26 2015, 21 countriesworldwide have already made this very step towards equality: The Netherlands in 2000, Belgium in 2003, Canadain 2005, Spain in 2005, South Africain 2006, Norway in 2009, Sweden in 2009, Argentina in 2010, Iceland in 2010, Argentina in 2010, Portugal (2010), Denmark in 2012, Brazil in 2013, England and Wales in 2013, France in 2013, New Zealand in 2013, Uruguay in 2013, Luxembourg in 2014, Scotland in 2014, Finland which signed 2015, and it became effective asof 2017, and Ireland in 2015 (Waxman, 2015). Thanks to the media, and close proximity of the wave of this, relatively new, movement towardsequalizing LGBTpopulation with the rest of the population isa quite familiar topic. The debates surrounding homosexuality, the problematicsof discrimination and civil rights has grown to be mature and, as it can be witnessed, isproducing very evident results. However, when talking about Asian countries, things may be quite different. As is evident from the above listed countries, only New Zealand has approved same-sex marriage nationwide. Tsang (2009: 6 -14) in his thesis’introduction says, the action against heteronormative beliefsand normalization of the LGBTpopulation is only at its beginning, as only now does a portion of Asian researchersand scholars start to develop and expand theoriesthat aremore inclined to deal with the local social dynamics and issues, as opposed to mirroringthe western discourse. It isquite important to be noted asthe thesis’ author mentions in their introduction, there is an issue stemming from the language itself. The issue iswith finding accurate equivalents in, for example, Chinese or Korean language to the termsthat are used in western discussions. It is then logical to conclude that when speaking about homosexuality and other sexual identities, it should be in the context of the culture and its social dynamics, aswell as history. 2. History 2.1. Ancient Korea Throughout the ages, from the very first records, all the way to the modern Korean society, religion has played a big part in how homosexuality wasaccepted, or condemned. There is very little evidence that would depict the existence of gay or lesbian historical figures with certainty, even though some scholarsdo find connotations and hints of homosexuality in historical evidence. While there are some sources describing homosexuality in ancient Korea, they are often referred to as “ representing nothing more than historical footnotes”(Seo Dong Jin in Fylling 2012: 26). The reason behind this might be in religion, asKorea was heavily influenced by China’ s Confucianism (Deuchler in Fylling 2012: 27). The philosophy of balance between the male and the female, between the light and dark and its strong belief in family values and producing heirscould have pushed homosexuality in Korea into obscurity. However, even though the aforementioned fact istrue, what could be found in historical record shows that a number of Korean kings, officials, and people in the high court were engaging in homosexual activities. In Korean courtly society, it wascommon that the eunuchs were employed by the Korean kings, similar how they were by the Chinese rulers, and there aresome assumptions that eunuchs likely served as sexual partners aswell. During the Three Kingdoms period, in one of the kingdoms, Silla (57 B.C–A.D. 935) the court established an educational institution, as well asa social club of young warriors, known as the hwarang [화랑], commonly translated into “flower boys”or “ . These youths of aristocratic ancestry were flowering knights” chosen for their beauty and good education. In addition to military training, they performed ritual dances and recited prayersfor the well-being of the kingdom (Fylling 2012: 26). It has been suggested that these men also served as sexual partners from the time of King Chinhung (r. 450 –576), when specifically male-male sexuality could be found in the court of Silla. There are also some historical notations pointing existing relationships involving several kings of the Gory dynasty (918 –1392) having sexual relationships with adolescent men. King Kongmin (r. 1352 –1374) was famousfor his paederasty, ashe appointed at least five youths as so called “little-brother attendants”and had them appointed assexual partners(Leupp in Fylling 2012: 27). The term hwarang has, later in Korean history, developed into a name for traveling performers, often consisting of all-male troupes. The reputation of these performerswas wide known to be homosexual prostitution. In addition to that, the plays originating from the 17th century hint at a common occurrence of men of high social status having boys in their homes for sexual purposes, ashomosexual activity was perhaps seen as a mark of high educated status. Some of the members of the high classkept so called boy-wives who have had this status recognized publicly in their villages, and when they left adolescence and reached adulthood, they were to be married off into a heterosexual marriage (Fylling 2012: 27). According to Fylling(2012: 27), there are no recordsof homosexuality amongst lower classes, however that isto be expected, considering the fact that the lower stratum of population was not literate and depended greatly on word of mouth. Oral Korean folklore issuggested to contain many stories that touch upon homosexual relations between men (Leupp in Fylling, 2012: 27). This would suggest that homosexuality waswide accepted, at least as far as Sillahas been concerned, however it is to be noted that Silla was deeply tied to Buddhism as opposed to Confucianism. As we mentioned before, however, the historical evidence found in scripture and folklore were footnotes. The evidence also shows that homosexuality, although perhaps widespread, wasn’ t particularly well accepted in courts. Fylling (2012: 27) mentions Silla’ s King Hyekong who was killed by his subordinates. He wasnoted by historians as“ a man by appearance but a woman by nature”and it isimplied that his death wasdue to his unacceptable femininity (Utopia). Beforementioned King Kongmin had a reputation of being a pervert. As for the Joseon dynasty (1392 –1960), there has been a recorded instance of lesbianism in the very palace.King Sejong’ s cabinet held a meeting in 1436 because of the rumorsinvolving his own daughter-in-law, and her involvement with her female servant. The annalsshow that the rumorshave been conferment, the king was advised by his ministersto strip his daughter-in-law of the noble status. Thiswould preserve the honor and dignity of the family and to avoid injuringthe throne’ s image. For this reason, it was proclaimed that her expulsion from the palace wasdue to “ faults in character, such asextreme jealousy and lying” (Fylling, 2012: 28). 2.2. Recent history There is very little records and sources to be found about homosexuality in Korea after the Japan’s annexation of Korea. Few recordsshow any mentions of homosexuality. It seemsas if the Korean society has been determined to ignore homosexuality, as something that isnot native to them, despite the historical recordsshowing otherwise. As a result, a very common opinion of homosexuality in Korea is that it was brought in by foreigners. After a long period of suppressing the existence of homosexuality in Korea, the Korean LGBT groups and communities have gained more visibility and demand grew for a proper discourse in the mid-90s (Tsang 2009: 8). Even if the certain amount of visibility was achieved, we cannot speak about a sexual revolution asit was happening in the United States, for instance. The will and ability for LGBTcommunity in South Korea for social and cultural events has grown, as was their expression, however the prejudice, misunderstandings, ignorance, and traditional values remained a great obstacle. From 1995-2009 South Korea has experienced an extensive shift with visibility and aptness to discuss the LBGTdiscourse through issues and events, which impacted the Korean society, challenging the traditional Confucian values, aswell as socio-ethical standard of the country. Tsang (2009: 8) mentions Jooran Lee’ s“Remembered Branches: Towards a future of Korean Homosexual Film” , where the author points out a few stages of the development of gay culture, particularly in film. Until the 80s no film had been classified asa homosexual film, even though some of them were dealing with explicit homosexual issues. The producer and director staff would often just hide or deny any connections to homosexuality in their work. In addition, there were not many available placesfor screening such movies. According to the author the turning point for homosexual films and movements wasin 1997 when Korean Performing Arts Ethics Commission banned director Wong Kar-wai’ s film “Happy Together” , stating that the film would encourage homosexuality and isa threat to public morals(Lee in Tsang 2009: 8). This event caused a public discussion revolving around censorship and controlling cultural policies, resulting in the establishment of a rest restrictive institution, the Korean Council for Performing Arts promotion (Tsang 2009: 9). The very first “ Seoul Queer Film and Video Festival”was held in 1998 under the approval by the South Korean Government. At the time President Kim Dae Jung’ s policy on homosexuality had been more open than the policiesof his predecessors, which allowed more gay-friendly environment and more LGBTindependent films around 2000 (Tsang 2009: 9). From 2000 to 2009, however, the LGBTpopulation seemed to have still suffered suppression by the society. Harsh Government policy alongside with media’ s outlook did very little to ease that suppression, but rather helped it in many ways, first and foremost by strong regulations and censorship. In 2000 and 2003, two music videos were banned by different TV stations because they included lesbian storyline in them. The strict regulations employed by the Korean Council for Performing Arts caused the music videos to be banned from mainstream media, reasoning how the lesbian narrative of the music video istoo shocking and not suitable for broadcasting. The only way to see the music video wasthrough internet, asit was marked and evaluated asa type of an adult video (Tsang 2009: 10) The censorship hasn’ t just been reaching the content surrounding broadcasts and movie industry. The censorship reached beyond onto gay and lesbian publications and websites. The official website of a South Korean Lesbian Organization under the name of “ We are together” was censored and blocked in 2002. Even though the website was cleared asharmlessfor the young population by the National Human Right Committee in 2003, it wasnonetheless still emphasized that the websites could and will encourage the “ dangerous”and “ wrong”curiosity of the young population about homosexuality. In the same year, 2003, the first Lesbian Cultural Festival washeld in Ewha Woman University. Duringthe festival, the campus was split between two currentsof opinion on homosexuality (Tsang 2009: 10). From 2004 to present day, South Korea has become more open to the discussion on LGBT related issues. 3. Homosexuality in South Korea Today 3.1. Discussion of identity, the principle of “ Don’ t ask- don’ t tell” The discourse on homosexuality, LGBTcommunity, and the gay rights, alongside with gay issues are considered to be fairly new. Gay rights groups did not exist before the 1990s. Even though the general publicopinion is slowly shifting towards a more open view on the homosexuality, the views on it still differ from what we in the west might be used to. There is a contrasting aspect, seen in the legality of homosexuality in South Korea. While homosexuality is not explicitlymentioned in the Constitution or in the Civil Penal Code, according to the Article 92 of the Military Penal Code, same-sex relationships among soldiers are accounted as reciprocal rape (even if consensual). The punishment for it can go as far as a one-year prison sentence and forced retirement. The Korean military has, thus, adopted the rule of “don’ t ask- don’t tell” . Thisact hasbeen appealed in the Korean constitutional court. It is also notable to mention the Article 2 of the National Human Rights Committee Act, which states that all discriminatory acts, including the ones that arebased on sexual orientation, can be a matter calling for petition, investigation and counteraction by the Commission. Furthermore, the Korean Supreme Courted ruled in favor of gender change. This meansthat people who undergo gender reassignment surgeriesare allowed to change all their official documents to fit their newly assigned gender (Kim, 2012: 1). When talking about gay rights, or better said, LGBTrights, there isan interesting view on them, aswell asthe view on identity in general. In his thesis, Arnold interviewed self-identified young gay men to gain more insight into how queerness is viewed in South Korea. His interviews first and foremost show an interesting view of identity tied to homosexual men in South Korea, and by association, the rest of the LGBTpopulation. In his thesis, Arnold (2016: 13-20) compares the way sexual orientation is viewed in the United States of Americaand its tiesto the identity a person finds themselves belonging to, as opposed to a different stance on it as far as young South Koreans are concerned. He states that: “ It wasmore than just an argument over how to move forward, how to confront prejudice or advance a political agenda; it was a questioning of the very necessity of movement at all. “(p.13). Arnold finds a fault in the understanding of progress, and identity itself for young LGBTpeople in South Korea. While the young people he had been talking to, easily and freely admitted to being gay, he found it surprising that the attitude of these people wassomewhat lukewarm when it came to fighting for equal rights. His conclusion to this attitude liesin their lack of need to fight for equality, asit appearsto be a somewhat underground subculture, at least asfar as Seoul is concerned. Both off and online South Korea has an abundance of LGBTspaces, from Lesbian Girl Park to Homo Hill in Seoul. As it wasmentioned before, Korean society has been strongly influenced by Confucian traditions. As it isnot just a religion, or a set of spiritual beliefs, but rather a certain way of life, which includes a set of socially acceptable behaviors, social norms and expectations in society, of which isperhaps especially notable filial piety (Chung in Arnold 2016: 15). Confucianism itself does not discuss morality of same sex romantic or sexual relationships, its firm stance of maintaining traditions, the filial piety send a strong message. For this reason Arnold’ s interviewees have mentioned that one of the most important rules isnot to “ come out”to one’ s parents. As opposed to the Western views of celebrating one’ s identity, the importance put on being “yourself”in every situation, and not being able to expressit in every aspect of life might seem odd from the Western perspective, however one of the young people Arnold spoke explained it like this: “What you need to understand isthat Korean people alwayswear masks; we are different to everyone and always present ourselvesin certain waysto different people. For example, you are one person when you talk to your parents, and another person when you talk to your siblings. You are one person when you talk to your friends, and someone entirely different when you talk to your coworkers. You would never be the same person talking to your parentsthat you would t be with somepeople be with your friends. In thisway, gay isjust another thingthat you can’ that you can be with others.”(p.16) This further shows the heavy influence of Confucian way of thinking; people are obliged to take up their predetermined rolesin their surroundings, aswell associety. As long asthe status quo ismaintained, homosexuality is somewhat tolerated in society, by giving LGBTcommunity a space to express it. This can also be interpreted asan overall “ t ask, don’ Don’ t tell”policy that the South Korean society hasadopted towards homosexuality in the contemporary era. 3.2. Homosexualityin media When it comes to representation of LGBTpeople in media, and homosexual people in particular, it appearsthat nowadays, to a certain extent, homosexuality is a rising popular issue, or rather a rising trend in South Korean films, TV series, or music videos. Despite this, homosexuality seems to be a running gag in most media, based on stereotypes and heteronormative practices adapted to gay couples. According to Tsang (2009: 12) the South Korean producersand directorstend to lean onto a light and soft approach when touching upon homosexuality in their work. Thisis to make it more approachable to the heterosexual audience, on one side, but on the other to avoid still strict Government censorship. Tsang claimsthat such approach only furthers the ignorance of general public, and perpetuates harmful opinions such asconsidering homosexuality as a kind of mental illness, immaturity in sexual behavior that isto be cured or corrected. The common theme depicting a sort of pseudo-homosexuality is in dramasoften portrayed asa gag, like in Coffee Prince, where the male lead falls in love with a woman who presents herself asa male,without knowing it. Many other dramasput hints of homosexuality in such a neat and convenient packaging, making it easier to digest by revealing that the male romantic interest was actually a woman all along, fitting the characters into the heteronormative narrative. Of course, there are some exceptions and there is visible progress, but it seemsto be rather slow, as there seemsto be a relatively small group of critics in South Korea opening discussions on LGBTrepresentation in the media. 4. Conclusion South Korea has very contrasting stances asfar ashomosexuality isconcerned. While having a lively and attractive LGBTsubculture in Seoul, that is brimming with life, there seems to be a prevalent opinion in young gay population that the safe spaces are the only place where it is okay to express one’ s sexuality. This isbecause of the strong social norms with basis in Confucianism. Filial piety, relationship towards family, the roles one is obliged to take in the society all come into the picture when discussing homosexuality in South Korea. Even for LGBT people living in South Korea, maintaining the right image in front of their parents, families, or employers isextremely important. “ Coming out”outside of the safe spaces, and among friends seems to be a rare occurrence, asmany of the people of homosexual orientation have stated; asan example there isan unwritten rule of never coming out to one’ s parents. This brings a status quo of sorts, it seems that in modern South Korean society being gay is accepted aslong asit stays within the frame of the LGBTsubculture, without it crossing over into mainstream, challenging and corrupting the ideasof morality and heteronormativity of the South Korean society. Even though homosexuality has been recorded throughout history, a number of South Koreans are of the opinion that it issomething that has been brought in by the foreigners. In fact, even though the subculture surrounding homosexuality issomewhat acceptable, if kept away from the mainstream, many South Koreans are still pretty ignorant on the matter, or issues LGBT people face. As a result, homosexuality isnot only regarded asa foreign import, but as a mental disorder, an illness that isbelieved to be able to correct and cure. Since the mainstream media isstill in the process of bringing accurate representation of homosexuality, their approach attempting to cater to the society’ s heteronormativity may in fact be counterproductive when it comes to shifting these opinions. However, with the younger generations the things could be looking up for the LGBTpopulation, asthere are a number of activists trying both to motivate gay people to put in their efforts towardsequality, as well aseducate on LGBTexistence and issues. There isa wish for some progress, but it remainsto be seen how this progress will go. References: Arnold, D. Matthew. 2016. »Queer Korea: Identity, Tradition, and Activism« (Thesis). Duke University. Last visited February 15, 2017. https:// dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/13472/Queer%20Korea%20Fi nal%20Thesis_Arnoldpdf.pdf?sequence=3 Fylling, Elise, 2012. »Her Story: Lesbians in Japan and South Korea« (Thesis). University of Oslo. Last visited January 20, 2017. 10852/24407 Kim, Jonathan. 2012. »Korean LGBT:Trial, Error, and Success.« Cornell International Affairs Review. 5:2. Last visited January 20, 2017. https:// www.inquiriesjournal.com/a?id=1241 Kim, Young-Gwan; Hahn, Sook-Ja. 2006. »Homosexuality in ancient and modern Korea.« Culture, Health & Sexuality; An International Journal for Research, Intervention and Care 8:v59- 65. Last visited January 20, 2017. 10.1080/13691050500159720 Lee, Ji-Eun. 2008. »Beyond Pain and Protection: Politics of Identity and Iban Girlsin Korea« Journal of Lesbian Studies 10v:49-67. Last visited January 20, 2017. 10.1300/J155v10n03_04 Novak, Kathy CNN. 2015. »The problem with being gay in South Korea«. Last visited January 20, 2017http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/18/asia/south-korea-being-gay/ Oh, Chunyun; Oh, C. David. 2017. »Unmasking Queerness: Blurring and Solidifying Queer Lines through K-Pop Cross-Dressing« The Journal of Popular Culture 50: 9–29. Last visited January 20, 2017. 10.1111/jpcu.12506 Stawski, Simon, Martina. 2015. »Homosexuality in Korea.« Last visited January 20, 2017. http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/homosexuality-in-korea/ Tsang, S. 2009. »Unfamiliar time and space : the actualization of sexual identity in Korea. « (Thesis). University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR. Last visited January 20, 2017. 10.5353/th_b4292675 Waxman, B. Olivia. 2015. »21 Other Countries Where Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal Nationwide« TIME. Last visited January 20, 2017. http://time.com/3937766/us-supreme-court-countries- same-sex-gay-marriage-legal/ Youngshik, D. Bong. 2008. »The Gay Rights Movement in Democratizing Korea.« Korean Studies 32v:86-103. Last visited November 13, 2016. 10.1353/ks.0.0013
Report "Homosexualiy in South Korea_Bedeković Barbara"