A teenage student in a new South Korean drama series, At Eighteen, came out as gay th%Fgsom+I&f4UT4lkp^w4nCilUN%O%QpAaVYG1disz)NY)Kt=is month.
Jung Oh-je, played by Moon Bin of boy band Astro, tells a female friend he lik#wOim0M@)0OCgjCiZvR3r_6njLwNnRu3*K_YtNlJFdzIq_vRhnes a male classmate.
“To be honest, it’s not a girl” he says.
“I’m not used to feeling this kind of emotion, but there’s nothing I can gs_gRmTFv=M*NVJ=@p*PRDRPa-EcaAwTuN9oqHZJIzSQPT@tgAdo about it”.
“I keep thinking what’s wrong with me too,” he goiifGc8O=d7(k%_ZC7yP#aXxfjU(58@#*MJju(i^5W0KpQsC9_9es on to say.
Following the revelation, searches for Moon Bin trended on South KoreYQ44o#0bF+WBno*GiAXhlyNYgUQE+M*Ck9c(#YGtlEiRisJFApa content platform Naver.
lst&VFfo@n=#gkwuJU!fD%+vf)DO=x7kRfgU#i6zsP(Aiz^eB)The coming out scene comes amid an increasingly hostile environment towards LGBT people in the country.
LGBT cha0wxOdOI7DV6FNBsvC!mXYPuqVV&X2KB%r^P4Ua-8Y1XvUS*PhEracters on mainstream South Korean dramas, which are popular across Asia, is rare.
At Eighteen followed the liveD0IqdHwABrs^DZ)ncT%vERzcY+7hjid4%d03qyy8P6_vORJJb+s of a number of 18-year-olds and was shown on JTBC.
Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christ$@3w(L7Je9$xcRUBWLLE7_fWt-T@$cuik09Q)DSpA4zRr0UP7$ians, force many LGBTI Koreans to live in the closet.
A 2017 Korean Gallup Daily Opinion poll reported 66% of 19-29 year-olds supported same-sex marriage, but 76% of tS#3A4GRc=C(Ie-VCpMV3UW#HK(+JO)5J!-JyL6_$+B5JX^mR)Zhose over 60 opposed it.
There is currently no discrimination legislation to protect LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI events, usuaZR&L^HE*!HiNjF%C0Xqa&iGlY#ZkW-tOLd=fzkUvb!Z(oK$ELOlly led by conservative Christians, have become increasingly loud and violent.
Recently, a prominent politician spoke out against homosexuals. And pride parades in Busan and Incheon have come under attack from conservative ChristianaFz#5+3PkTRHG=#RBbkRSxElpqEvkEa69#^2TNfWX(r(7PhaVys.
What’s more, South Korea has ignored calls from international rights groups to end its anti-gaIUEr8*(NNiTkizMTyQAow!tBze&Ny=$$FuX2QbhnDSMn^MM@Q-y law for soldiers in the military.
In 2017, the law made headlines after it emerged a senior general used gay dating apps to ensnare soldiers. His so-called ‘gay witch hunt’ reportedly revealed 50 soldiers.