Schoolboy played by K-Pop star comes out as gay in South Korean drama

A teenage student in a newa-6RDmot_ie1CmICPSAgC-T_a(t+zh-%c&#%-aNf2$Pl)*Nf$8 South Korean drama series, At Eighteen, came out as gay this month.

Jung Oh-je, played by Moon Bin of boy band Astro, tells aobSpvLe&zPE*i%!Vk6kCdvAV#hlHLKj$rw6vHbV(Al937RA_0t female friend he likes a male classmate.

“To be honest, it’s not a girl” he says.

“I’m not used to feeling this kind of +gFO*Rkn@#C(RI9AaCF0vTS3-t%VKBOHUI-^sb#*B6C&%t+uE7emotion, but there’s nothing I can do about it”.

“I keep thinking what’s wrong wiHj8)gMy%xIg&b+n-6xATS436KT)4MrlenSE3KiIA$zK5SP!dAzth me too,” he goes on to say.

Following the revelation, searches for Moon Bin trended X7S!FrrTDbZ@05-x*Cn5MZAmZz2(03Ug&c7&M0LuTX4(*gV733on South Korea content platform Naver.

The coming out scene comes amid an increasingly hostT9G)8BiMfom3LjVJ@i+yLsIn#o0G0ys*ONRe%TAo9k7&=!oQ!eile environment towards LGBT people in the country.

LGBT characters on mainstream South Korean dramas, which are popular-n7I4wHF^#qf0pm*5NL(!=IXO9cFGZ2Ewz(Xj^9Laia+fDO9s+ across Asia, is rare.

At Eighteen followed the lives of a numNiFT92vc-!xoOCl85+2b8h775C_hO==m*U5dQ5rimRhsm*R(5%ber of 18-year-olds and was shown on JTBC.

Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTI Korp1hXsDIFp^JSvLurR+*5W&Ur^&uvIUMCTy=Xhh=K_s_7KcgV-ieans to live in the closet.

A 2017 KoreaDmBEh_TEP960v+!ZVJ!L9_F)uQ$UdD4d^Vv+Xyn5MCp1x$PafZn Gallup Daily Opinion poll reported 66% of 19-29 year-olds supported same-sex marriage, but 76% of those over 60 opposed it.

There is currently no discrimination legislation to protect LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI events, usually led by conservative Christians, have become increasingly loud and violent_Fra)%w-@MN%WAaXtJ9yZ^*CgdBq7I6YF=le_K$-UYhj4*7$tW.

Recently, a prominent politician spoke out against homosexuals. And pride parades in Busan and Incheon have come under attack from conservati2K$&h)o=!XC57_Mj)K0uqZ%Wdk9e6MZ1D8d1ep$JwQuVzy5%2tve Christians.

WhatYWjMv=jc%s#tWo8)nb&+kBkMzuY4J8BhqGc-K_l93UIVpQ41i1’s more, South Korea has ignored calls from international rights groups to end its anti-gay 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.