The modern South Korean LGBTQ rights movement arose in the 1990s, with several small organizations seeking to combat sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination.
Early history
Although there is very little mention of homosexuality in Korean literature or traditional historical accounts, several members of nobility and Buddhist monks have been known to either profess their attraction to members of the same sex or else be actively involved with them. The earliest such recorded example might be that of King Hyegong, the 36th ruler of the Silla Dynasty who was killed at the age of 22 by his noblemen who revolted in protest of his "femininity".see also "Hyegong-wang" (惠恭王) in Samguk Sagi Silla Bon-gi
King Mokjong (980–1009) and King Gongmin (1325–1374) of Goryeo are both on record as having kept several wonchung ("male lovers") in their courts as “little-brother attendants” (chajewhi) who served as sexual partners. After the death of his wife, King Gongmin even went so far as to create a ministry whose sole purpose was to seek out and recruit young men from all over the country to serve in his court. By contrast, Royal Noble Consort Sun, second consort to the then Joseon crown prince, was ejected from the palace and demoted to commoner status for having had sexual relations with one of her ladies maids.
Hwarang was the most overt form of same-sex relationships in ancient Korea. The sexual prowess of the hwarang were recorded in the Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms, through pieces of Silla poetry such as Changipalang-ga (찬기파랑가), Mojugjilang-ga (모죽지랑가), and Ch'oyong-ga (처용가). During the Goryeo dynasty, same-sex sexual activity was not explicitly prohibited. During the Joseon Dynasty, however, Korean society experienced a draconian shift as the neo-Confucian elite and scholars declared homosexuality wicked and depraved, forcing homosexual activity to go underground and in secrecy.
Evidence of homosexual activities among the common people are harder to find as there are fewer records pertaining to them. Common people were less likely to be literate with writing and less likely to have their records preserved.
During the Joseon Era before the Japanese annexation there were travelling theater groups known as namsadang which included underaged males called midong (beautiful boys). The troupes provided "various types of entertainment, including band music, song, masked dance, circus, and puppet plays," sometimes with graphic representations of same-sex intercourse.
The Veritable Records of the Joseon Dynasty describes two intersex people during the Joseon Era: Sa Bangji and Im Seong-gu.
Recent history in South Korea
Some of these organizations also work to prevent the spread of AIDS-HIV. Among the active organizations are;
Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea Chingusai Korean Sexual-Minority Culture and Rights Center (KSCRC) Lesbian and Gay Alliance Against Discrimination in Korea (LGAAD Korea) Lesbian Counseling Center in S. Korea (Kirikiri) Beyond The Rainbow Foundation Parents and Families of LGBTAIQ People in Korea
One of the first legal victories of these organizations came in 2003, when the Korean National Human Rights Protection Committee formally advised the Korea's Youth Protection Committee to remove homophobic language from the Youth Protection Act of 1997, that had been used to justify the government harassment and censorship of LGBTQ South Korean film festivals and webpages.
In the Anti-discrimination Act introduced in 2007 by The National Human Rights Commission of the Republic of Korea, the section prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation has been withdrawn, following outrages from conservative Christian organisations.
While there are no federal laws against LGBTQ discrimination, various municipalities such as Seoul and Jeju have enacted their own ordinances against it.
In March 2015, the Ministry of Education enacted a new set of rules prohibiting the teaching of homosexuality or any other non-normative sexual orientations in sex education curricula.
On October 27, 2024, at 3 PM, a "200 Million Strong Unified Worship and Prayer Meeting of the Korean Church" took place in the Gwanghwamun area of Seoul. The event, organized by conservative Christian groups, aimed to gather 2 million believers to address concerns about recent legal rulings and advocate for the protection of biblical values, the church, future generations, and the nation.
Timeline of recent LGBTQ activism in South Korea
1993.12. Formation of South Korea's pioneer queer rights organization, Ch'odonghwe 초동회 (composed of three gay men and three lesbians) which later split into Chingusai and Kirikiri 1994.2. Dissolution of Ch'odonghoe 초동회 1994. Formation of two organizations: Chingusai 친구사이 (Between Friends) for gay men and KiriKiri 끼리끼리 for lesbians 1995. Online communication promotes further contact among LGBTQ communities. Proliferation of LGBTQ affinity/rights groups following the launch of LGBTQ organizations at Seoul National University and Yonsei University 1996. First lesbian bar (Lesbos) opens. Airing of “Gina Song Report” 1997. Korean Queer Film Festival is held for the first time. The first mass gathering of LGBTQ individuals, accompanied by the formation of “Union of College Lesbians and Gays” (Daedongin), which became Solidarity for LGBT Human Rights of Korea (Dong'illyŏn) later. First demonstrations for gay rights as an independent issue 1998. Launch of Buddy, Korea's first national gay-interest magazine. Key members of Buddy later establish the Korean Sexual Minority Culture and Rights Center (KSCRC) in 2003 1999. Growth of internet social networking sites (e.g. X-Zone, Hwa-rang, Tgnet..) 2000. in Seoul, Queer Culture Festival is held for the first time. Korean celebrity Hong Seok Cheon comes out 2001. Debut of entertainer Harisu, a transgender woman. Passage of the first National Human Rights Commission Act to include the term “sexual orientation” 2002. Controversy over the closure of X Zone by the Information Communication Ethics Committee 2003. The National Human Rights Commission recommends the removal of homophobic language in the Youth Protection Act. Yook Woo Dang, a youth member of Dong'illyŏn, commits suicide in the office. 2004. The Youth Protection Act Enforcement Decree removes homophobic language (the first of several revised statutes related to gay rights). The Korea Democratic Labor Party becomes the first national political body to establish an internal committee for LGBTQ issues. 2005. Project opens at Konkuk University. It was the first exhibition organized by openly bisexual women and lesbian artists in South Korea. 2006. Drafting of transgender sex change legislation joint solidarity. Proposal of special law initiative for sex change of transgender. Supreme Court approves sex change of transgender. 2007.10. A struggle begins in response to the section in the Anti-Discrimination Act prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The identity of bigotry is manifested. 2008. Choi Hyun Sook runs as the first openly lesbian candidate in the Korean general election. Formation of “Rainbow Action,” a coalition of LGBTQ organizations of Korea. First LGBT Human Rights Forum is held. 2010. “Life is Beautiful (ko: 인생은 아름다워)” a television drama containing the story of a gay couple, is nationally broadcast. 2011. Outbreak of hate crimes in Jongno. "Rainbow Action" stages a sit-in at the city council offices. The deadlock surrounding the attempt to pass the Ordinance for Student Rights in Seoul without including sexual orientation and gender identity among its protections resolves, and the Ordinance for Student Rights in Seoul passes. 2012. LGBTQ banners are banned by the local government of Mapo-gu, causing controversy. 2013. For the first time, transgender individuals can legally change their gender without gender reassignment surgery. The Democratic Party withdraws its Anti-Discrimination Act. Min Hong-Cheol, a Democratic Party member of the National Assembly, pushes for a retrogressive revision of the Military Criminal Law, which criminalizes even consensual sexual relationships in army. 2013. Movie director Kim Jho Kwang-soo and his partner Kim Seung-hwan become the first South Korean gay couple to publicly wed, although it is not a legally recognized marriage. 2014. Queer activists occupy the Seoul City Hall in protest. 2017. The Supreme Court ordered the government to allow "Beyond the Rainbow", an LGBTQ rights foundation, to register as a charity with the Ministry of Justice. 2018. Openly transgender Kim Ki-hong ran for the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council and failed. Beyond The Rainbow Foundation, Korea's first incorporated sexual minority human rights organization, was registered. 2019. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency granted permission to the Seoul Queer Culture Festival to host a parade within city limits, despite there being police concerns over threats and violence from counter-protestors. This contrasts with the agency's handling of the festival in 2015, in which they had denied permission to the parade amid concerns of traffic disruptions and violent counter-protests. The openly lesbian Kim Gyu-Jin married her partner. The female queer movie, "Moonlit Winter", was released and won the Queer Camellia prize at the Queer Camellia Award. 2020. Kim Gyu-Jin and her partner filed a marriage registration with the Jongno-Gu Office but received the notice of non-repair. 2021. South Korea's first transgender soldier named Byun, who was forcibly discharged after having gender reassignment surgery, was found dead. The defence ministry classified her loss of male genitals as a mental or physical handicap, and a military panel ruled in early 2020 that she would be compulsorily discharged. 2023. The Seoul High Court sided with a same-sex couple, who had filed a lawsuit against the National Health Insurance Service in 2021 after being denied spousal insurance benefits. The initial ruling by a lower court favored the insurer on the grounds that a same-sex union could not be considered a common law marriage under the current law.
Political representation
South Korean political parties tend to avoid formally addressing LGBTQ rights issues, as do most of the elected politicians. A major exception would be the Democratic Labour Party.
The Democratic Labour Party (), established in January 2000, is the third-largest political party in South Korea and has a political panel known as the Sexual Minorities Committee () which advocates the recognition and political representation of sexual minorities. Their stated agenda includes a campaign against homophobia and discrimination based on sexual preferences, equal rights for sexual minorities (in their own words "complete freedom, equality, and right of pursuit of happiness for homosexuals") 한국정당사 첫 동성애 공식기구 떴다 : 정치 : 인터넷한겨레 as well as the legalization of same-sex marriages. On its campaign bid for the 2004 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Labour Party promised the abolition of all inequalities against sexual minorities and won a record 10 seats in the Kukhoe National Assembly.
The Anti-Discrimination law has been proposed by all National Assembly (except for 20th National Assembly) since its initial motion in 2007, but has never been passed.
On December 19, 2007, Lee Myung-bak of the conservative Grand National Party won the presidential election. In a 2007 newspaper interview, the president-elect stated that homosexuality is "abnormal", and that he opposed legal recognition of same-sex marriages.
During South Korea's April 9, 2008 elections, Choi Hyun-sook (최현숙) became South Korea's first openly gay candidate for national public office when she ran for a seat in the National Assembly of South Korea. Her bid was unsuccessful.