1,005 sex dolls have been imported since last June, customs agency says

Full-body sex dolls are seen at a warehouse in Seoul on Feb. 24, 2021. [NEWS1]

More than 1,000 sex dolls have been imported from overseas since their import was cleared in June last year.

Among the 1,005 imported sex dolls, 270 were full-body dolls and 735 were dolls that depict specific body parts, according to the Korea Customs Service data Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the Democratic Party shared Monday.

The customs agency had been banning their imports on the grounds that they are obscene materials until it lost a court case against a sex toy retailer.

The retailer sued the service in 2017 and went to the Supreme Court. The top court sided with the retailer, saying, "It is difficult to conclude that sex dolls harm human dignity," noting the customs agency lacks a legal basis for banning imports of sex dolls.

Since 2018, 49 legal complaints have been filed to seek customs clearance for sex dolls. The Korea Customs Service has only won two cases, excluding four still in progress.

Upon the court's ruling, the service has allowed the import of sex dolls depicting certain body parts since June last year and started allowing imports of "full-body" sex dolls in December.

The ban on full-body sex dolls ended when it was pointed out that sex dolls with particular body parts could be assembled into full-body dolls in Korea and sold in the market.

Sex dolls that depict minors or in the shape of minors are still prohibited. Dolls resembling specific persons and the ones that need safety checks remain banned. A total of 69 dolls have been put on hold this year as of August.

"Unlike other countries, there is a legal loophole to punish the import, sales and shipment of child-like sex dolls, and also there is no standard defining children and teenagers' body figures in the regulation governing the imports and customs clearance of sex dolls," Seo said.

BY KIM JI-HYE [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]