Seoul Queer Culture Festival sees record participation

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Seoul Queer Culture Festival sees record participation

Published: 16 Jun. 2025, 20:02 Updated: 16 Jun. 2025, 22:19

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Participants at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival carry a large rainbow flag representing the LGBTQ community near Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung District, central Seoul, on June 14. [NEWS1]

A record number of organizations, including a Korean government agency, participated in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival on Saturday, signaling a potential shift in official perceptions toward the country's long-neglected LGBTQ minority.

The 26th edition of the annual Pride event — the largest of its kind in Korea — included a stage for speakers and musical performances, a parade and a street fair with information booths run by various domestic and international organizations in Jongno District, central Seoul.

This year’s festival, which occupied the entire southbound segment of a normally busy traffic artery between Jonggak and Euljiro 1-ga stations, was attended by a record number of visitors and participating groups, according to Yang Eun-seok, the organizing committee’s secretary general.

“Due to the high number of attendees at last year’s event, we decided to seek a larger space to mitigate safety concerns related to overcrowding,” Yang said, adding that the committee accepted applications to set up booths from 70 groups, or approximately 10 more than the previous year’s 60.

One of the groups that set up a booth for the first time this year was the Korea Disease Control Agency (KDCA), the central government body charged with preventing the spread of infectious diseases.

KDCA senior staff scientist Hyun Jung-hee explained that the agency decided to participate to “more actively engage with civil society, and particularly young people,” as part of its five-year plan to reduce new HIV infections by 50 percent by 2030.

Attendees at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival wait before the start of the parade at the traffic intersection of Jonggak Station in Jongno District, central Seoul, on June 14. [MICHAEL LEE]

“Raising awareness is one of the most effective ways of preventing HIV transmission, and we decided earlier this year that this festival is an appropriate venue for our campaign,” she noted.

The growth of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival comes on the back of multiple court rulings in recent years that have bolstered the legal rights of LGTBQ people, such as the Supreme Court’s 2022 invalidation of a military court ruling that convicted off-duty soldiers for engaging in same-sex relations.

That decision was followed two years later by another Supreme Court ruling that same-sex couples are eligible to receive the same health insurance benefits as heterosexual couples.

However, the KDCA’s appearance at this year’s Seoul Queer Culture Festival coincided with the absence of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), which had run a booth every year from 2017 to 2024.

The commission decided not to attend this year’s event following the appointment of Ahn Chang-ho as its chairman in September last year.

Ahn sparked controversy for remarking in the past that “people should be free to engage in homosexuality, but shouldn’t cause harm to others.”

In lieu of the watchdog itself, a group of “allies” composed of NHRC officials set up a booth that they funded independently.

NHRC investigator Choe Jun-seok said that the commission’s decision to not partake in this year’s festival was made by Ahn, who told lawmakers during his parliamentary confirmation hearing, “If I attend the queer festival, I would also attend the rally against it.”

While the watchdog’s official line regarding the country’s sexual minorities remains unchanged, it faces an uphill battle to enhance protections and understanding of LGBTQ people, according to Choe.

“We’ve advised the government and local authorities on multiple occasions to make accommodations for sexual minorities and address such issues in school curricula, but resistance is strong from certain religious sectors,” Choe said.

Participants in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival parade watch as a drag queen performs on one of the processional trucks as it passes the Shinsegae Department Store in Jung District, central Seoul, on June 14. [MICHAEL LEE]

He also noted that repeated calls from the commission for national surveys and studies on LGBTQ issues have largely gone unheeded.

The NHRC has also long advocated for a comprehensive law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, disability, age and sexual orientation. However, legislative efforts have stalled amid staunch opposition from conservative Christian organizations.

Elsewhere at the festival, labor groups and foreign diplomatic missions demonstrated their solidarity with Korea’s sexual minorities.

Among the first-time participants was the National Union of Media Workers, whose gender equity commissioner Kim Ji-kyung, a former MBC news reporter, criticized the domestic media’s portrayal of LGBTQ issues.

“All too often, the media either ignores events like the Seoul Queer Culture Festival or presents arguments made by those opposed on an equal footing,” she said, describing the union’s participation as an attempt to “rectify this incorrect framework for coverage.”

Embassies from the Netherlands, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several European nations also set up booths on Saturday.

Raphael Lepot, second secretary for economic affairs at the Dutch Embassy, said his mission’s presence was intended to “underline the importance of equality and human rights and stand in solidarity with the community in Korea.”

Lepot, who attended similar events in Jeju and Incheon last year, said that his embassy encourages local authorities to support regional festivals that its diplomats plan to attend.

Despite this encouragement, Yang noted that Jongno District officials were “largely indifferent” to the festival "aside from confirming they had received the organizing committee’s plan.”

Contact with the Seoul Metropolitan Government was even more limited ahead of this year’s festival than the previous two years, when the organizing committee’s applications to use the plaza in front of the City Hall were denied.

This year, the festival committee decided to simply forego submitting an application to use the square, which Yang noted “would have been complicated anyway since the city government installed various structures on the lawn.”

The festival was last held there in 2022, shortly after Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon was elected.

Historically, the downtown location had been a flashpoint, with anti-LGBTQ protesters blasting slogans from loudspeakers surrounding the plaza.

Attendees at the Seoul Queer Culture Festival cheer as they march past Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung District, central Seoul, on June 14. Faces have been blurred at the request of the festival's organizing committee. [NEWS1]

By contrast, most participants at this year’s festival appeared at ease with the roadside venue, where foot traffic slowed to a crawl at certain points during the day due to the high number of attendees.

Justin Kim, a 29-year-old master’s student who has attended the festival every year since 2019, said this year’s iteration “felt much calmer because of the venue’s insulation from the opposing rally.”

Kim, who grew up as a Christian, also said that he came to terms with his queer identity around the time that he first attended the festival.

“Compared to then, I’m more proud of myself and surrounded by more friends and allies,” he said.

Update, June 16: An earlier version of this article said the KDCA was the first government agency to participate in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival. The NHRC, which is a government body, has participated in past festivals, but is classified differently from administrative agencies such as the KDCA. The article was amended to avoid confusion.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]