Lee Hee Tae bin get high hopes for im sex festival, wey e see as South Korea “first and largest”.
E reason say 5,000 fans go gada to see dia favourite Japanese porn actors and actresses, wey dem fly in for last weekend event.
Di festival go feature bondage fashion show, sex toy exhibition, and some adult games, wey go involve bursting balloons for di middle of pipo bodies.
But wit just 24 hours to go, dem cancel di festival.
South Korea dey known for dia conservative approach to sex and adult entertainment.
Public nudity and strip shows dey banned for di kontri plus e dey illegal to sell or distribute hard-core pornography, however to watch am no dey illegal.
“Virtually evri developed kontri for di world dey organise sex festival, but here for South Korea, we no even get adult entertainment culture. I wan take di first steps to organise one,” Lee Hee Tae, wey im company, Play Joker wey dey produce legal soft-core pornography tok.
For di previous month, women’s rights groups from di town of Suwon, wia di event suppose hold, bin come out to protest. Dem accuse di festival of exploiting women for inside kontri wia gender violence full ground.
Di local mayor bin condemn di event sake of say e go take place near one primary school and authorities don threaten to withdraw di venue licence if dem go ahead wit di festival. Di venue don pull out.
Oga Lee wey don dey frustrated still no send as e stitch locations, but di same things happun for all di new locations e plan to hold di event.
Di new authority bin accuse di festival say e “dey show only di false side of sex” and dem insist say dem go cancel di festival.
Next, Oga Lee see one ship wey dey dem park for one river for Seoul. But, afta pressure from di council, di pesin wey dey lease di boat bin threaten to barricade and cut off electricity if promoter allow di festival to go ahead.
For each turn, Oga Lee gatz scale down di festival as ticket holders bin dey call in for refunds, wey cost am hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Nearly out of options, e see one small underground bar for di extravagant Gangnam neighbourhood for Seoul, wey fit hold around 400 pipo. Dis time, e keep di location as a secret.
So, Gangnam council bin write to all dia hundreds of restaurants and warn say dem go shut dem down If dem host di festival, as dem chop abuse say dem morally harmful”. But di bar stand dia ground.
Den, di day bifore, di Japanese porn stars pull out. Dia agency tok say di backlash to di festival don “reach fever pitch” and di women dey worry say pesin fit attack dem.
From im office for Gangnam, Oga Lee bin tell BBC say im bin dey shocked to see “such unthinkable turn”, and add say im don receive death threats.
“I dey treated like criminal without doing anything illegal”, e tok.
E add say di festival fall well within di lines of the law. Dem no go show nude pipo and dem no go perform sexual acts, e go be di same wit one event e organise last year, wey get little publicity.
No be today, Play Joker don dey stage attention-grabbing stunts.
Last year, dem use one woman wey no wear anytin but one cardboard box, parade di streets of Seoul as she invite passers-by to put dia hands inside and touch her breasts.
Oga Lee say im wan challenge Korea attitudes to sex and pornography, wey dey stii dey in di past.
“Di authorities be hypocrites. If you go online, evri body dey share pornography, den pipo go log off and dem go pretend say dem dey innocent. How much longer wey go keep up dis pretence?”
Although, dem no fit access popular international porn websites for South Korea, most pipo dey use internet VPNs to override restrictions.
Di group wey bin protest di original event, di Suwons Women’s Hotline, bin describe di festival cancellation as a “triumph”. “Whatever di organisers say, dis no be celebration of sex, but di exploitation and objectification of women, and di sex industry dey encourage violence against women,” Go Eun-chae, di director of di hotline wey dey provide support for victims of domestic violence tok.
Ms Go plus oda women’s rights organisations forKorea argue say di kontri get problem of sexual violence wey need urgent attention.
“E dey against our culture,” she tok, and add say men get endless opportunities to freely express dia sexuality and dem no need festival to do so.
Bae Jeong-weon, wey dey teach sexuality and culture for Sejong University, tok say one of di issues wit di festival na say, most of di na for di pleasure of di male audience.
“Lot of violence against women dey go on here, and so women dey much more sensitive to issues of exploitation,” she tok.
For inside one 2022 survey wey di goment gender ministry carry out, more dan one-third of di women for South Korea say dem don experience sexual aggression.
“For South Korea, we get history of talking about sex negatively, in terms of violence and exploitation, instead of positive, enjoyable act,” Ms Bae add.
For Gangnam, wia di festival suppose take place, many pipo , mostly young pipo for di neighbourhood dey divided according to dia gender.
“No be pornographic and dem no dey do anything wey dey illegal, so I no think say dem suppose block am,” one male IT worker Moon Jang-won tok.
But 35-year-old Lee Ji-yeong say she sympathise wit di various councils and “no dey happy as di festival na for commercialising sex”.
But most of dem agree say banning di festival, di authorities don take am too far.
“Dis ban na decision by old, conservative politicians wey wan appeal to older voters,” 34-year-old Yoo Ju tok.
“Dis generation still dey believe say sex suppose dey hidden,” she kontinu and add say young pipo attitude to sex dey shift, and say she and her friends no dey hide tok about sex.
Conservative and traditional values still dey guide politics for South Korea, and authorities don dey accused of doing too much bifor.
Last year, Seoul city council stop di Queer Pride wey bin dey hold for di city main plaza afta opposition from Christian groups.
Goment neva pass anti-discrimination law wey go protect both di queer community and women, pipo wey dey face significant prejudice.
Di controversy on top di sex festival don see these two issues of sexual diversity and gender equality become entangled, as di organisers argue say authorities dey stop pipo from freely expressing themselves, and women tok say dem dey violate dia rights.
Di authorities go gatz figure out how to navigate dis tricky dilemma.
Play Joker tell BBC say im dey plan to try host di festival again for June, only bigger, as Oga Lee claim say im get politicians on im side now.
For weekend, di mayor of Seoul bin issue one statement on im YouTube channel wey tok say di city “no get intention of getting involved in di future”.
Additional reporting by Jake Kwon and Hosu Lee.
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