15 Jun 2018

Being Gay in North Korea: What We Know

What is it like to be LGBT in one of the world's most isolated societies? 

Following a historic meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, all eyes are on the secretive Asian pariah state—with very little information available about the North Korean LGBT community.

 Gay Star News recently explored what is known about being gay in North Korea, and revealed three main findings.   

 North Korea has no laws prohibiting same-sex relationships. 

 

 However, the country also rejects that homosexuality exists, because the people of the country reportedly are of "sound mentality and good morals."

 There is a known gay population in the country.

 The country's only known gay defector left in the late 1990s, lamenting that the community he left behind numbered in the thousands and lacks a vocabulary to describe being LGBT.

 CCTV footage once showed two soldiers in a close embrace.

 A security camera from South Korea caught on tape two soldiers "in a passionate embrace," according to Gay Star News. It is not known what happened to the men pictured.