North Korea's only openly gay fector: ''s a weird life' | North Korea | The Guardian

Contents:

• ‘I ULD NOT EVEN DREAM’: WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY NORTH KOREA
• NORTH KOREA'S ONLY OPENLY GAY FECTOR: ''S A WEIRD LIFE'
• PEACHY KEENAN: EVERYONE IS GAY, N YOU BLAME THEM?
• GAY AND TRANS SOLDIERS SAY THEY WERE ABED SOUTH KOREAN ARY

‘I ULD NOT EVEN DREAM’: WHAT ’S LIKE TO BE GAY NORTH KOREA

Gay North Korean fector speaks out. He was driven to leave the North by the difficulti of livg there as a gay man. Jang did not hear the word “homosexual” for the first 37 years of his life, sayg he had no ncept of what meant, somethg not unual his native North Korea.

Readg a magaze a doctor’s surgery 1998, not long after he arrived South Korea, Jang saw an article about homosexualy. “That was the first time I knew what homosexualy was and I was really pleased, ” he says.

NORTH KOREA'S ONLY OPENLY GAY FECTOR: ''S A WEIRD LIFE'

He has few iends and beg the only out gay fector the South has ma settlg twice as hard. HistoryHomosexual activy North Korea?

Homosexual activy North Korea is legal. [3]Ambiguo homosexualy North Korea is ambigo Legal There is no law North Korea prohibg homosexualy, and North Korea wants everyone to have the same rights (fay, marriage)AmbiguoL’homosexualé en Corée du Nord t ambigu Same-sex marriage North Korea? N/A No rmatn on same-sex marriage North KoreaUnregnizedDepictn media of affectn North Korea tend to be very rare, and no law agast gay marriage exists the nstutn.

But, based on a North Korean propaganda film om the year 2000, male homosexualy may be agast the law the ary, cludg for prisoners of war. By North Korean standards Jang Yeong-j had a normal start life: he joed the ary at 19, pleted 10 years of natnal service and married soon trapped his untry, which he has lled “one huge prison whout bars”, problems wh his marriage led him to fect to South was only when he crossed the borr and spent time a more open society did bee clear to him that he was homosexual, somethg he had never prevly had a name for.

PEACHY KEENAN: EVERYONE IS GAY, N YOU BLAME THEM?

The 55-year-old is now the only openly gay North Korean fector livg the South. “I didn’t know until after I arrived here that I was a gay, or even what homosexualy was.

”Speakg to the European Alliance for Human Rights North Korea, Jang explas that although he is ee of the DPRK regime, life as an openly gay fector remas a explas that men and women are often segregated for long perds of time North Korea. Photograph: ChaFotoPrs/ChaFotoPrs via Getty ImagWhat did you know about homosexualy growg up North Korea?

I nsired my homosexualy as a pathologil ndn..

GAY AND TRANS SOLDIERS SAY THEY WERE ABED SOUTH KOREAN ARY

But [] is a tragedy to live whout knowg that you are ’s life like for gay people North Korea? As there is no ncept of homosexualy, there is no awarens of the issue. This isn’t to say that all the men are gay, but rather, they are tied by a special raship.

Michael Kirby, thor of a UN report to human rights the DPRK, is an openly gay man. After the publitn of his report, the Korean Central News Agency published an article that ntaed many homophobic slurs aimed at him. Do you feel prsured to speak as a gay rights activist?