Cancellation of sex festival in South Korea sheds light on gender issues in the country

The announced ‘2024 KXF The Fashion’ event in South Korea has been causing commotion in the country for several days now. It was a sex festival at which people working in the porn industry would speak. However, South Korea’s conservative climate put a stop to this at the last minute.

The event, organized by Play Joker, a company previously active in soft porn but now mainly focused on events, was presented as “the largest sex festival ever in Korea”.

Four locations

Originally scheduled to take place in Suwon, the festival was met with strong protests from local civic organizations, leading to its cancellation. Play Joker attempted to find alternative locations, such as Paju, a cruise ship in Seoul’s Jamwon Hangang Park, and later a café in Seoul’s Gangnam neighborhood. However, here too there was protest from local residents.

The organization was forced to cancel the event to “guarantee the safety and privacy of the movie stars,” as communicated in a video on YouTube just a day before the event.

Gender issues

Protest against the festival came mainly from women’s rights movements, who argued that it was not a celebration of sex, but the exploitation and objectification of women. “The sex industry encourages violence against women,” Go Eun-chae, director of Suwon’s Women’s Hotline, told BBC. It was also noticeable that the festival’s poster only featured female porn stars, implying that the event was primarily aimed at a male audience.

However, the cancellation of the event provoked criticism from the men’s movement. Rep. Cheon Ha-ram of the New Reform Party argued that a society that restricts men’s sexual self-determination and demonizes male instincts is not normal. An online petition to also cancel strip shows aimed at female audiences received significant support.

However, Play Joker has indicated that they still plan to host the sex festival, albeit at a new location in Seoul in July, with a larger capacity.