Gay rights north korea

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in North Korea may face social challenges due to their sexuality or gender identity. Homosexuality is not illegal in statute, but instances of criminalization and execution for homosexuality have been reported. LGBT Rights in North Korea: homosexuality, gay marriage, gay adoption, serving in the military, sexual orientation discrimination protection, changing legal gender, donating blood, age of consent, and more.

China regards North Koreans as economic migrants rather than refugees or defectors, if they are caught they are usually sent back to face punishment.

Shots with consequences? Huniewicz doesn't. Are there gay people in North Korea? And if so, what happens to them when other people find out? Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about. In , the state-run Korean Central News Agency denied the existence of consensual same-sex sexual activity in the country.

On the contrary, an openly gay North Korean defector was covered by the international media after he published his autobiography in Jang Yeong-jin's remarkable story as North Korea's only openly gay defector was covered by the international media after he published his autobiography. Now, almost a quarter of a century after fleeing the country, he tells the BBC that he plans to marry his American boyfriend.

Jang Yeong-jin had never found women attractive. But it wasn't until his wedding night, aged 27, that this made his life difficult. Jang felt intensely uncomfortable. Although the couple did eventually consummate their marriage, sex was rare. Four years later - his wife still not pregnant - one of Jang's brothers began to quiz him. Jang admitted he had never been aroused by the opposite sex, and his brother promptly sent him to a doctor.

It never occurred to Jang, or his family, that there could be another reason for his lack of interest. If someone is seen running to greet another same sex friend, it's assumed that's just because they have such a close friendship. In fact adults of the same sex often hold hands in the street, he says. Jang now thinks his experience of being misunderstood was by no means unique.

At one point, Jang was admitted to hospital for a month of tests and got to know some of the other patients. But articulating, or exploring, what it was they did feel, was likely to have been impossible without a frame of reference. One man Jang had served with in the military visited him several times after they were discharged. He confided that his wedding night, too, had been a disaster - he couldn't bring himself to even hold his wife's hand.

Park Jeong-Won, a law professor at Seoul's Kookmin University, says that he is not aware of any explicit North Korean law against gay and lesbian relationships. But he adds that the state's laws against extramarital relations and breaching social mores would probably be co-opted into prosecuting any gay sexual act.

Another academic in Seoul, Kim Seok-hyang, has interviewed dozens of defectors on the subject, and says not one of them had even heard of the concept. The defectors all told her they were certain that anyone found exploring same-sex relationships would be ostracised at the very least, possibly even executed. Jang was released from hospital with a clean bill of health - all the medical tests set in motion by his brother's intervention showed there was nothing physically wrong.

We should find a way to be happy for each other,''' Jang says. So Jang filed for divorce. But this process is not straightforward in North Korea. Permission needs to be granted by the courts, and they prioritise the family unit, says law professor Park Jeong-Won. They will only authorise a split if the union is seen to threaten the country's ideology, he says.

Jang began to realise he had only one option left - to leave North Korea altogether. This would automatically void their union and allow his wife to remarry.

north korea population

But the final catalyst for his defection was a visit from Jang's best friend, a man called Seoncheol. They had grown up together in their northern hometown of Chongjin. The two had always been close, sharing a bed on boyhood sleepovers. But as they had got older, Jang's feelings for Seoncheol had intensified.

I still see him in my dreams.