Slideshow for a presentation on the basic history of queer Korea

1. QUEER
KOREA
MARK BUTTWEILER

2. A BIT ABOUT ME
• Reader for LTEA 142
• Student at IR/PS
• International Economics / International Development
• Korea focus
• Time in Korea
• Three years teaching English
• The Kimchi Queen (03/2012)
• Involvement in Korean queer life

3. DISCLAIMER
• White
• Cisgender*
• Male
However, I will try to include information on Korean lesbians
and transgender individuals to the best of my ability.
*Identify with the gender I was assigned at birth

4. “Although they do not exist as a significant social reality, they are,
nonetheless, existential entities who suffer precisely because of
their homosexuality. No matter what anyone says, it is clear that in
our society, homosexuality is the cause of discontent. As a result,
a "homosexual existence" implies change and resistance- a
struggle for a better life. However, when social discourse
claims that one does not exist, or in other words, when one is
coerced into remaining a non-social entity… How do Korean
lesbians, gays, and other sexual minorities create a
normative foundation for a brighter future?” –Seo Dong-jin

5. LECTURE OVERVIEW
• Historical existence of queer individuals
throughout Korea‟s history
• From Japan Annexation to Democracy:
The Invisibility of Queer Koreans?
• Expanding queer movement in modern
Korea
• This evolution vis-à-vis film and popular
culture

6. QUEER IN ANCIENT KOREA:
HYEGONG OF SILLA
• 36th ruler of the Korean Silla Kingdom
• Reigned from 765 to 780 C.E.
• Described as a man by appearance, but a woman by
nature
• Preferred the company of males over females

7. QUEER IN ANCIENT KOREA:
SILLA’S HWARANG (화랑)
• Group of male youth
• Dressed well, wore makeup
• Horsemanship, archery, javelin, swordsmanship
• Known for prostitution and homosexuality

8. QUEER IN ANCIENT KOREA:
THE KORYO DYNASTY
• Same-sex relationships were common among the ruling
class
• Historical analysis of Hallimbuilgok showed that King
Chungsun (1275-1325) had a longtime male lover
• King Kongmin (1325-1374) had „little brother attendants‟ as
sexual partners

9. QUEER IN ANCIENT KOREA:
THE JOSEON DYNASTY AND CONFUCIANISM
• Establishment of Confucianism ideology
• Repudiation of homosexuality
• Continued male homosexuality in the ruling class and
among Buddhist monks
• Lesbianism not viewed with acceptance
• King Sejong‟s Daughter (순빈 봉씨)

10. QUEER IN ANCIENT KOREA:
THE NAMSADANG
• Male performers
• When boys (called midong) first joined, played the
penetrated sex role
• Most likely prostitutes for the ruling class
• Ended with Japanese annexation of Korea
• Basis of The King and the Clown
• (5th Highest Grossing Film)

11. HOMOSEXUALITY UNDER
JAPANESE OCCUPATION
• Little known
• Publication of Yi Kwang-su‟s Maybe Love in Japan

12. HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MID
CENTURY: INVISIBLE?
• Understanding through personal
narratives
• Unheard Life Story of a Senior Gay
Korean Man, Shin Young Kim
• Ch’oe Myung-hwan, Lesbian

13. HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE THE MID CENTURY:
FAKE NAMES
“The sonbae I met in the 1970s usually used aliases.[2]Sometimes,
however, there were those such as “Doctor Yi” or “Doctor Seo” and
“Eun-ja” hyongnim or “Soon-ja” hyongnim who used their real
names.[3] I think they used their real names because the names were
common enough that they felt comfortable revealing them. The
sonbae from those days remember “Myong-hwan,” not “Hyon-ok.”
I’ve been using “Myong-hwan” for the past thirty years.” –Choe
Myong-hwan
• Common practice today

14. HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MID CENTURY:
MARRIAGES OF CONVENIENCE OR
EMIGRATION
• Choe Myeong-hwan writes how all her lovers would leave
her for marriages
• Emigration as a second choice
The
“One of the sonbaes could no longer stand the pressure to
marry and she left for Japan. It’s absurd that we have to keep
fleeing when all we do is like women. Anyway, the sonbae
refuses to come back to Korea even though she knows very
well that she could live in Korea these days.” Choe Myeong-
hwan
“The tragic irony was that the two different kinds of love could not
be compatible in Mr. Jung’s life. Mr. Jung’s care for family
members made him feel obliged to be a good brother and father
and it meant that he had to give up satisfying a personal desire
to live a gay life in Korean society. The reason Mr. Jung decided
to get married even though he did not want it demonstrates the
priority of his commitment to his family.” Unheard Story

15. HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MID CENTURY:
FINDING ROLES
• Marriage or emmigration not the only choice
• Female troupes (국극) in the 1950s
• Girl Prince explores this genre

16. HOMOSEXUALITY IN THE MID CENTURY:
UNDERGROUND BAR SCENES
• Jongno as a place for men
• Myeongdong as a place for women in the 70s
• Invisible to the public both in bars and film

17. BURGEONING QUEER MOVEMENT IN KOREA:
1980S TO PRESENT
• 16 distinct themes outlined in
Mujigae Korea
• Changing public perception
• Evolution of film reflects the
movement‟s progress

18. 1: DEVELOPMENT OF A GAY
BAR SCENE IN JONGNO
• Started in Jongno
• Secretive
• Lack of visibility
• Development of Itaewon in the mid 1990s
• Effect of American military presence
• Targeted toward foreigners
• Recent renaissance
• Hongdae for Women

19. 2. THE FIRST LGBT
ORGANIZATIONS 1991-1993
• The first group was Sappho, which was created by an
American lesbian for lesbians in Korea.
• In 1994, Chingusai was established, which still operates
today.
• Kiri Kiri, a new lesbian group, decided to go beyond a
social group and focus on activism and eventually opened
Lesbos in 1996.

20. 3. BOOKS AND TRANSLATIONS
FROM 1994.
• A number of books began to be published both by Korean
authors as well as translations from foreign languages
into Korean.
• Same-sex characters began to appear in works by Song
Gyeong-a, Yi Na-mi, Seo Yeong-eun, Yun Dae-nyeong,
Baek Min-seok
4. THE FIRST UNIVERSITY
STUDENT GROUPS IN 1995.
• Seven students at Yonsei created the group Come
Together at Yonsei, which was largely publicized (and
criticized).
• It was not allowed to officially be a group since Yonsei was
a Christian university.
• Other universities followed

21. 5. THE INTERNET: ANOTHER
LOVE AND EXZONE FROM
1996.
• The development of the internet helped create a space
• “The observation that public lesbian/gay/queer (hereafter
l/g/q) cultures emerge most frequently along with late
capitalism, the rise of the middle class, consumer culture,
urbanization, and mobility appears equally applicable to
Asian contexts … [however] it seems plausible that an
additional factor has been at play: computers and
computer-mediated communication” Chris Berry and Fran
Martin
6. GAY FILM FESTIVALS FROM 1997.
• The first film festival to be held at Yonsei University was
cancelled last minute by the administration
• University cut the power and locked the doors to ensure it
did not happen.

22. 8. THE KOREA QUEER CULTURE
FESTIVAL FROM 2000.
• Gay pride parades started with the name of „Rainbow
Festival‟.
7. BUDDY MAGAZINE IN 1998.
• Published in 1998
• Not held in bookstores
• Has since gone out of print

23. 9. THE FIRING OF HONG
SUK CHUN IN 2000
• First entertainer to come out
• Apologizes to fans
10. THE NATIONAL HUMAN
RIGHTS COMMISSION IN 2001
• April 2011: Allowed citizens to file
complaints if they faced discrimination
• Worked on changing disparaging
definitions of homosexuality in
dictionaries, stopping the censure of
gay websites, ending sexual violence in
the military, allowing gays to donate
blood, and changing the Healthy
Families Basic Act
Lee Song Hee-il’s White Night

24. 11. INTERNET CENSORSHIP -
EXZONE AND THE YOUTH
PROTECTION ACT – 2001.
• The Youth Protection Act of 1997 stated that minors
should not be exposed to the topic of homosexuality.
• This meant censoring gay websites.
• Was removed from the government‟s categories of harm
12. ACTIVIST CHANGES FROM
• Some working with the IGLHRC (International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission)
• AIDS awareness (ISHAP) and sexual identity education.

25. 13. MILITARY ISSUES
• Did not allow gay servicemen, but
• No longer discharges them for „mental illness‟
• Men can face up to a year in prison.
14. RECOGNIZING RELATIONSHIPS.
• In 2003, a lesbian woman asked the courts to recognize
her 21-year old relationship.
• In 2004, a public gay wedding took
place (though not legally recognized).
• Kim Jho Gwang-su‟s Marriage

26. 15. THE ANTI-DISCRIMINATION
LAW.
• In 2006, a law against discrimination based on sexual orientation
• Much opposition by conservative Christians.
• Removed from consideration
16. TRANSEXUAL
ISSUES
• Harisu, the first transsexual (MtF) entertainer
• Legally recognized as a woman in 2002.

27. IN FILM: FROM CAMOUFLAGE TO
BLOCKBUSTER?
• Colin Singer argues that there have been three periods of
queer film
• Invisibility
• Ascetic (Woman & Woman)
• Camouflage
• Bungee Jumping of Their Own
• Memento Mori
• Blockbuster
• King and the Clown
• No Regret

28. BUNGEE JUMPING OF THEIR
OWN
“Kim Dae Sung's film Bungee Jumping on their Own (2001)
challenges this heterosexual bias by playing with the
possibility of having one of the romantic pair reincarnated
within a re-gendered body. Thus, what began as inherently
heterosexual abruptly begins anew, but this time as
inherently homosexual, while each lover continues to assert
his heterosexual identity.” Aaron Han Joon and Magnan Park

29. NO REGRET
I’ll let you guys analyze this one!

30. MAJOR THEMES
• State regulation of sexuality
• Hidden expression of sexuality through the Japanese
annexation / Park dictatorship
• Re-emergence of hidden identities
• Christianity / Conservative continual resistance
• Changing Perceptions
• Myth of “modern-day acceptance”

31. SOURCES
• The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality
• Mapping the Vicissitudes of Homosexual Identities in
South Korea by Seo Dong-jin
• Male Concubinage: Notes on Late Choson Homosexuality
by an American Naval Attache by Carter J. Eckert
• En-gendering re-gendered romance of multiple lives:
reincarnation in Bungee Jumping of Their Own by Aaron
Han Joon and Magnan Park
• Mujigae Korea by Doulgas Sanders
• Korean Literature in Translation with Gabriel Sylvian
• Syncretism and Synchronicity: Queer'n'Asian Cyberspace
in 1990s Taiwan and Korea by Chris Berry and Fran Martin

32. SOURCES CONTINUED
• Ch’oe Myung-hwan, Lesbian by Sujin Park-Kim
• Unheard Life Story of a Senior Gay Korean Man by Shin
Young Kim