KMK: Queer Seoul Series Part Four

Queer Seoul Series

An Expat Guide to Queer Seoul

Part IV: Power of Pink

I hate to sound cliché’ but people really do need people and Babs had it so right. That’s what’s it all about: People, community, socializing and sharing. It’s always easier to get along in the world when you’re surrounded by like minded people support each other. That’s why the expat community is trying to build up steam in Seoul. That’s why it’s so important for Queer folk to do the same. I’m happy to report that there isn’t a complete dearth of activism and community support for gay Seoul.

First: Chingusai

Korean for between Friends, Chingusai is a human rights group established to “correct society’s prejudice against and distorted view of homosexuality, to protect and promote awareness of gay people’s human rights, to develop and disseminate a healthy gay culture that will help gay people to live with pride, and to promote AIDS prevention and protect HIV positive people’s human rights.”

Those are all worthy goals and Chingusai welcomes all. They have various levels of membership include full, supporting, and internet.  The group operates on membership fees, volunteer service and community financial support. You can contribute either through man power or financially:

Bank Account: Nonghyup (NACF) 029-12-15612

Bank Account Holder: Chingusai

Email: Chingu@chingusai.net

Second: Korea Queer Culture Festival

2010 June 4 to 2010 June 8

They organize the Pride Festival in Seoul. This year the 2010 festival will take place on June 12^th near Cheongyecheon Stream close to City Hall. The week before from June 4^th to June 8^th will be the film festival.

Third: Outpride Korea

Activist group aiming to end discrimination against sexual minorities, improve cooperation among disenfranchised groups, and foster cooperation against tyranny and oppression.

The social organizing just doesn’t stop with activist organizations. In print there’s the magazine GET. It’s comparable to magazines like the Advocate, Instinct, or DNA. It’s published four times a year. The features of GET include GET Talk (tips, hints, and recommendations for the savvy gay Korean), GET Diary (fiction), Show Me (spotlights the interior design of a reader), interviews and articles on dating, design, and fashion. There’s usually a translated article culled from a Western magazine as well as an obligatory spread of scantily clad but artfully posed models.

An example of a feature would be like the article my friend translated for me about gay guys with certain blood types. As I understand from my friend’s translation the breakdown goes as follows:

Blood Type B: Sex and love is separate. An orgasm proves you’re alive. Sex for you is a scientific endeavor. Sex is happiness all out in the open by ocean, fields, or right out in the sunshine.

Blood Type A: You’re moral in the morning, but a slut when the sun goes down. Sex for you is immoral if it’s a one night stand or someone you don’t find attractive. You don’t like to talk about sex even with friends and will walk away. But while you’re meek in the street you’re a freak between the sheets.

Blood Type O: You use sex as a tool to measure your love. It’s the only way you can express your love and know that you are loved in return. For you sex without love is meaningless.  Sex without love leaves you dissatisfied and regretful. You like sensual intimacy.

Blood Type AB: It’s ridiculous to shun sex without love. If its there great, if not its like cold pizza it’s still good. It’s an instinctual drive that must be satisfied. You know no limits and want to explore your boundaries. Your mood dictates your drive. Oh and you like sexy clothes.

The only problem with GET is that it’s entirely in Korean. For expats without that Korean ability you’ll have to just look at the pictures, struggle through with a Korean English dictionary, or get a really good friend to sit down and read it to you.

Besides print media queer seoulites have also made an impression on the dramatic arts. The profile of Queer films, directors, actors, and drama are slowly but surely gaining prominence.

The first name that pops into the head when thinking of Queer Seoul in the media is actor Hong Seok Chon. He was the first Korean actor to come out of the closet back in 2000 while starring in the popular children’s show PoPoPo. His declaration of self became infamous in a country that truly believes gay is only another word for happy. He stood strong in a climate where suicide is the answer for social shame or insurmountable societal pressure and faced the public head on instead of taking the easy way out. Though he did have his trials to face as noted by an interview with the NY Times:

“We talked all night,” Mr. Hong said. “My mother kept saying, `Why you? Why you?’ I said, ‘Mom, I’m gay. I’m your son.’ Then my mother said, ‘Let’s take poison together.’ “

Those four words uttered by Mr. Hong’s mom were a mental slap in the face. I was still, naively, substituting my experiences in the west for life here in Korea. Back home some unlucky souls may face being ostracized from family and friends but I haven’t ever heard of a coming out story so bleak and desperate that mass suicide was a possible answer. Thankfully, despite enduring being fired, blacklisted and negotiating unfathomable family reactions Hong Seok Chon now thrives as a restaurateur in Itaewon. Others however have not been so fortunate.

Sadly, even after a decade since Hong Seok’s coming out party the societal stigma of homosexuality iis still powerful enough to topple other’s not so strong. In 2008 both actor Kim Ji-hoo and TV personality Jang Chae-won committed suicide. Kim suffered professionally due to his outspokenness. Clearly, if one wishes to continue performing then coming out isn’t the wisest of choices for performers in South Korea.

The dearth of queer characters on television may stem from the fact that having characters in your living room night after night make them more familiar than a film you see once. Despite those odds the Korean drama Life is Beautiful (인생은 아름다워) written by esteemed writer Kim Su-hyeon (김수현), actually became the first K-drama to portray an authentic gay relationship on the small screen.

On the other hand there’s been a number of gay for play or what I like to call the “Just Jack” portrayal of gay characters which references the character played by on the American sitcom Three’s Company. In order for him to live with his two gal pals straight Jack had to play gay for his land lord. In Korean dramas this happened on several occasions. In the drama Coffee Prince tomboy Go Eun Chan needs money to payoff debt. After being mistaken for a boy by Choi Han Kyul she agrees to pretend to be his gay lover in order for his grandmother to stop setting him up on dates. When sparks start to fly Choi has trouble accepting his “gayness.” In the drama Personal Preference (개인의 취향) Jeon Hin Ho pretends to be gay in order to move in with Park Kae In who wants a fashionable gay friend. While not as revolutionary as dramas with actual gay characters these types of shows allowed the issue to be broached “safely” definitely making them out of the box compared to the countless drams that ignored the issue all together.

The Big Screen

Surprisingly, while actors on TV may not be making much headway there have been actual strides in Queer Korean cinema. Starting from as early as 1979 to the films of today, queer cinema in Korea has slowly but steadily grown. Here is a short list of a few Queer Korean films to see.

2009 Hello My Love (헬로우 마이 러브)

A woman anticipates the return of her fiancée from France, but when he returns he brings with him his new boyfriend. As you can guess, drama follows.

2008 Frozen Flower (쌍화점)

A historical drama set in the Goryeo dynasty and focused on the relationship between the King and his bodyguard.

2008 Antique Bakery (앤티크-서양골동 양과자점)

Jin-hyeok opens a cake shop in an old antique shop, hiring Seun-woo, Korea’s best pastry chef, who fell in love with him in high school. Drama ensues stemming from a traumatic childhood incident. It’s based on a popular Japanese Manga.

2008 Boy Meets Boy (소년, 소년을 만나다 )

This short film has no spoken dialogue it follows the meeting of Min-soo and Seok-I as a fairy like cupid gives them advice.

2007 Rainbow Eyes (가면)

A thriller with a shocking ending!

2006 Like a Virgin(천하장사 마돈나)

When a trans-gender teen needs cash to cover his operation he enters a wrestling competition.

2006 No Regrets (후회하지 않아 )

Directed by Korea’s first openly gay director, Leesong Hee-il, the story focuses on the relationship between Su-min and Jae-min who try to make their relationship work through hardship and family drama.

2005 My Lovely Week (내 생애 가장 아름다운 일주일 )

It’s a movie about multiple relationships and interconnected stories with a gay character thrown in the mix.

2001 Bungee Jumping of Their Own (번지점프를 하다)

When a man’s girlfriend dies unexpectedly he discovers she’s been reincarnated but as a man.

1999 Memento Mori (여고괴담)

A Korean horror flick set in an all girls school with lesbian characters.

2005 The King and the Clown (왕의 남자)

Two clowns living in the Chosun Dynasty get arrested for staging a play that satirizes the king. Threatened with execution unless they can make the King laugh, the duo becomes embroiled in Palace intrigue.

2002 Road Movie (로드무비)

A road trip movie involving a love triangle: a gay man who loves a man who is in love with a woman.

The state of queer Korean film may dismay some, but just consider Hollywood in comparison. Even today Hollywood isn’t exactly the bastion of openness. Don’t you think its a little backward when it’s easier for straight actors to play gay roles than actual openly gay actors. I feel as though the Korean film industry recalls 1950’s Hollywood. Back then actors like Montgomery Clift took refuge in the closet to protect their macho image. The Korean male doesn’t have that cowboy blueprint of masculinity to live up to. Instead he has to deal with something a little less romanticized but still idealized: the family man, father, protector, and provider. Though, just like  with Hollywood, given time the Korean film industry will become more and more open.