2013 Korean Queer Culture Festival Parade Recap

Pride was once again a great experience in Seoul! According to some estimates, at least 2000 people showed up, including Harisu and director Kim Jho Gwang Su. I think there were probably more... While the other prides I've attended took place in Jongno, this year's pride was in Hongdae. The number of spectators was massive. To start out, there were plenty of performances in the park, as well as variou booths to learn information about the gay rights movement in S. Korea, pick up condoms and lube, buy homoerotic art, etc. The crowd was quite mixed with Koreans, foreigners, men, and women (and in between) of all ages coming together to celebrate queerness.

Arirang News has a story up on pride in English. Check it out at Arirang TV. The segment on pride starts at 14:25.

The opening ceremony was a Britney Spears medley. Pretty gay ^^

As I find other videos of pride performances, I'll try to post them here. For now, here are some of my pics.





I was pretty fond of this dancing group. Of course, a queer festival needs Gaga. The music was so incredibly loud, so sorry about the quality.


Harisu was the grand marshal and performed numbers from Drag Queen along with some cast members. Unfortunately, I was pretty far behind in the parade and couldn't see her float. Sad.

Director Kim Jho Gwang Su took center stage as well with his boyfriend. The couple plan to marry in August, which will be a very public event and hopefully starting the gay marriage debate in S. Korea.