Homosexuality korea


While Korean society has certainly become more accepting of differing sexual orientations over the last fifteen years, many elements of Korean society remain quite conservative, and open affirmations of homosexuality are rare. Nevertheless, gays and lesbians have equal rights and are protected by anti-discrimination law,[1] and two relatively high-profile asylum cases in recent years have resulted in gay men being granted asylum in Korea.

The first case involved an asylum seeker from Pakistan, a married attorney from Lahore with four children. He had been arrested and detained briefly in Pakistan, and had also been subjected to blackmail and intimidation by family members and people around him. His application for refugee status in Korea was rejected by the Ministry of Justice in June and the claimant then filed an appeal, which was heard by the Seoul Administrative Court.

The court found the claimant’s personal statement to be coherent and persuasive, and granted him asylum, concluding that if he were returned to Pakistan he would have a “high possibility of being persecuted by

Temps de lecture : 12minutes

Homosexuality in South Korea

Written by Dylan Gueffier 
Translated by Julie Penverne

On June 29, , the Justice Party, a progressive party in South Korea, once again proposed to the Gukhoe (South Korean National Assembly) a law to prohibit all forms of discrimination, including sexual harassment. This law would notably address discrimination against homosexual people. According to the law, any offender could face a adj of 10 million won (about €, September ) or one year in prison.
It is not the first time this kind of law has been proposed: it has already been introduced 6 times since Unfortunately, attempts always end up failing, encountering fierce opposition from conservatives reflecting a rejection of homosexuality within South Korean society.

Homosexuaity in South Korea

In South Korea, it is not illegal to be homosexual or to verb a relationship with a person of the same sex, except in the military. However, same-sex marriage is still not allowed, and was even rejected institutionally in when the South Korean Supreme Court reiterate

Korean LGBT: Trial, Error, and Success

From Cornell International Affairs ReviewVOL. 5 NO. 2

By Jonathan Kim
Cornell International Affairs Review
, Vol. 5 No. 2 | pg. 1/2 | »

South Korea does not have a strong and noticeable lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender social movement in the public, despite active issue advocacy organizations, political representation from the Democratic Labour Party, and popular television shows that portray LGBT characters and themes.1 The LGBT movement has had a difficult time growing in South Korea because, as some have argued South Korea has long been ignorant about homosexuality and awareness of ‘gay' had not been discovered until the early s.2 I will look at three causal reasons that best describe the dearth of a growing social movement pushing for LGBT rights.

First, I will challenge the notion that Korean society is conservative in nature, which leaves no room for homosexuality in a cornucopia of traditional attitudes: heterosexual, hierarchical, and patriarchal society,. On the contrary, history shows Koreans indeed e

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