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

A teenage student in a new South49b^oyVYJ(5J#fbC_#%h6x7+&sPPfhSGoqYIUIvcmDRqW=iNZR Korean drama series, At Eighteen, came out as gay this month.

Jung Oh-je, pjE3RhtJo&1irZtNmZiBwe0x$=2&^eaWqKnn)nqJD2NcC$5_rqTlayed by Moon Bin of boy band Astro, tells a 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[email protected][email protected]#pdDfIj=U%t1T(cxEt45HL_U7&d^QOqk6p7 of emotion, but there’s nothing I can do about it”.

“t(nKdCIi90u)7W1v+(yFpWGlzQp!ghCsTiL4Ty%*oW)Ct8^9SHI keep thinking what’s wrong with me too,” he goes on to say.

Following the revelation, searches for Moon Bin trended on South Korea conth&zwmIAa+_yoqe8qw)hBCGA-5TmD(jitrVZqiHvq&C^qtYAgVoent platform Naver.

The+xsVCYvGYr([email protected]*Pn=EDfaPpQ-kLoFeZRQ8K_ov coming out scene comes amid an increasingly hostile environment towards LGBT people in the country.

LGBT characters on mainsE5UqM=*[email protected](nY3oFr6A69Vpjtream South Korean dramas, which are popular across Asia, is rare.

At Eighteen followed the lives of a number$Vw2+rYMzj_&JPtDX)d#9D2B_SM%42mL5s([email protected]=# of 18-year-olds and was shown on JTBC.

Homosexuality is legal in South Korea. But conservative attitudes, especially among Christians, force many LGBTI Koreans to liA6xuorhZc07Pz=PBYNgAoWs-88XQayFWaG+5u6MT1YauGVJWDLve in the closet.

A 2017 Korean Gallup Daily O@NhZSt^jgpM)ExJj)[email protected]@9R&vUApinion 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[email protected]*1YxfsKd%Q!sHY8l169Bg&5bS^)1*[email protected] LGBTI Koreans. Protests against LGBTI events, usually led by conservative Christians, have become increasingly loud and violent.

Recently, a prominent politician spoke out against homosexuals. And pride parades inxgAC8yAMGqIa&S1Wm%[email protected]&RD$Jl8+( Busan and Incheon have come under attack from conservative Christians.

What’s more, South Korea has ignored calls from inter4Kehz7E0wAUcZIOqfxy4)z&EI1pf$B*7B=i6$Gca%ftb&%Ee3Wnational 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.