Tag: north korea gay rights

A North Korean Defector Shares What It’s Like to be Gay in the Pariah State

A man who defected from North Korea has described what it was like to be gay in the hermit kingdom. Jang Yeong-jin crossed the border into China in 1966 and spent more than a year struggling to find his way to South Korea where defectors are treated as refugees. China generally considers defectors to be… Read more »

Chinese tour operators halt travel to North Korea

Amid escalating military tension on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese tour operators have canceled travel packages to North Korea, according to Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. The report said Sunday that state-owned China International Travel Services and Ctrip.com International — the biggest tour operators in the country — had halted travel to North Korea. Air… Read more »

North Korea’s only openly gay defector: ‘it’s a weird life’

It wasn’t until he escaped that Jang Yeong-jin even knew the word to describe his sexuality. He talks to Jumin Kim about his new-found identity By North Korean standards Jang Yeong-jin had a normal start in life: he joined the military at 19, completed 10 years of national service and married soon after. But trapped… Read more »

Meet the man who escaped North Korea, learned what homosexuality is, and came out as gay

A gay defector from North Korea has revealed he had no idea what homosexuality was until he left the country. The reclusive Asian country is renowned for its secrecy, warmongering, and the oppressive rule of the Kim dynasty, currently headed by 33-year-old Kim Jong-un, who claims to have cured AIDS and hangovers. Given the country’s… Read more »

North Korean Defector Opens Up About Long-Held Secret: His Homosexuality

Seoul, South Korea — When the North Korean defector Jang Yeong-jin arrived in South Korea in 1997, officials debriefed him for five months but still hesitated to release him. They had one crucial question unanswered: Why did Mr. Jang decide to risk crossing the heavily armed border between the two Koreas? “I was too embarrassed… Read more »

What happens to gay people in North Korea?

Defectors reveal what life is like for LGBTI people in the hermit kingdom Are there gay people in North Korea? That was the question posed to four defectors on the NK News website, perhaps prompted by a CCTV photo released last month of two male soldiers kissing upward of the DMZ. All four unidentified defectors… Read more »

And if so, what happens to them when other people find out?

Are there gay people in North Korea?Every week we ask a North Korean your questions, giving you the chance to learn more about the country we know so little about. This week Michael from Phnom Penh asks: I’m just curious as to gay and lesbian life and culture in North Korea. Is there in fact… Read more »

North Korea soldiers spotted sharing gay kiss on CCTV

Netizens worry about the safety of the two men Two North Korean soldiers have been spotted sharing a gay kiss on South Korean CCTV. The images were widely shared on Korean media this week leading netizens to worry for the safety of the two men. ‘I’m pretty sure they’ll be killed if they’re caught,’ one… Read more »

North Korean state news agency abuses UN official for being gay

A North Korean state news agency has resorted to anti-gay abuse of a UN official for criticizing the communist state’s human rights record. The Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) took to attacking Michael Kirby, chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights in North Korea, by calling him a “disgusting old lecher with a… Read more »