Why has South Korea pulled the plug on its ‘biggest’ sex festival?

South Korea's "first and largest" sex festival has been cancelled. The conservative country was set to witness the adult festival featuring Japanese porn stars in its capital Seoul.

However, organisers pulled the plug on the event this week due to “safety concerns”, reported The Korea Herald.

But, why did South Korea cancel the sex festival?

Let’s take a closer look.

South Korea’s ‘first’ sex festival

Play Joker was organising South Korea’s sex festival ‘2024 KXF The Fashion’. The event envisioned the local fans of Japanese adult films to meet the stars of the industry through autograph signing events and fashion shows, as per The Korea Herald.

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Dance performances of Japanese porn actresses were also reportedly planned. The festival also offered a sex toy exhibition and some adult games for the ticket holders.

Opposition to the festival

The festival was to be organised at an exhibition hall in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. However, last month, women's rights groups from Suwon protested, alleging the festival was exploiting women in a country where gender violence is prevalent, as per a BBC report.

They argued the festival was not intended for both sexes. The advertising of the event showed mostly scantily-clad women, suggesting the audience was going to be dominated by men, BBC reported.

The local mayor took objection to the festival being organised near a primary school. The authorities then threatened to revoke the venue's licence if the event was held, following which the venue cancelled.

Play Joker then tried to secure other locations, including a studio in Paju of Gyeonggi Province and a cruise moored at Jamwon Hangang Park along the Han River in Seoul.

Last week, the Seoul Metropolitan government threatened action, including cutting off power to the venue, if the sex festival was held on the Han River. The city also banned the event and sent a letter to the operator of the venue, Us Cruise, expressing concern that the festival could “distort healthy sexual perceptions and promote sex crimes,” The Korea Herald reported.

“Adult entertainment gatherings (on the river) are prohibited under the River Act and the Excursion Ship and Ferry Business Act,” the letter said.

While Play Joker tried to keep their location in Gangnam private, the district’s council warned its hundreds of restaurants not to host the festival or else they would be shut down. However, the small underground bar did not bow down despite the pressure, reported BBC.

Eventually, the Japanese porn stars withdrew from the event. As per BBC, their agency cited the uproar over the festival, saying it "reached fever pitch" and that the women had safety concerns.

The festival was to take place on 20 and 21 April.

What has the organiser said?

Lee Hee Tae, whose company Play Joker had planned to organise the sex festival, expressed shock at the backlash, telling BBC he even got death threats.

“I have been treated like a criminal without doing anything illegal", he said.

Lee said he wanted to change South Korea’s attitudes to sex and pornography. "Virtually every developed country has a sex festival, but here in South Korea we don't even have an adult entertainment culture. I want to take the first steps towards creating one," he told BBC.

South Korea is known for its conservative approach to adult entertainment. Selling or distributing hard-core pornography is banned. Public nudity and strip shows are also illegal.

As per The Korea Herald, Play Joker has said it will initiate legal action against the city of Suwon, alleging obstruction of business and spreading false information.

Reactions to the cancellation

Suwon's Women's Hotline, the group that protested the original event, hailed the cancellation of the festival.

"Whatever the organisers say, this was not a celebration of sex, but the exploitation and objectification of women, and the sex industry encourages violence against women," Go Eun-chae, the director of the hotline that provides support for victims of domestic violence, told BBC. 

She said Korea's problem of sexual violence has to be addressed urgently. "It pervades our culture," Go said, pointing out that men had many chances to express their sexuality freely without needing a festival for that, reported BBC. 

However, not everyone agreed with the decision.

Representative Cheon Ha-ram from the New Reform Party wrote on Facebook on 17 April, “A society that limits men’s sexual self-determination and demonises male instincts is not a normal society,"

“While female instincts are recognised as legitimate for free and empowered women, male instincts are criminalised, degraded and are regarded with disgust," The Korea Herald cited the politician as saying.

It’s not over yet

Play Joker has said it will go ahead with the adult industry exposition featuring Japanese adult film stars in June, saying the event would be on a “bigger scale”

“We are arranging to rent a privately operated venue in Seoul to host the event, where we plan to invite two to three times more adult film stars than we did previously,” a Play Joker organiser said in a video recently, as per The Korea Herald. 

With inputs from agencies