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| A rainbow flag, symbolizing LGBTQ rights, is displayed on the U.S. Embassy building in Seoul along with the U.S. flag in this June 2019 photo. A group of foreign missions submitted a letter of support for the organizer of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival, which has filed a complaint with Seoul City's Administrative Judgment Committee against the city's rejection of its application to establish a non-profit foundation. Korea Times file |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
A group of foreign missions in Seoul have shown their support for Korea's largest queer culture festival organizer's effort to promote rights of sexual minorities here.
Seventeen foreign missions in Korea submitted a letter of support, under the signature of Dutch Ambassador to Korea Joanne Doornewaard, to the festival's organizer on Jan. 12. The letter will be used in favor of the organizer in its ongoing administrative battle with the city government.
The Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF) Organizing Committee filed an application to set up a non-profit corporation to the Seoul Metropolitan Government in October 2019, but the local government rejected the application in August 2021, citing concerns of social conflict if approved.
The festival organizer rebuked the Seoul Metropolitan Government's decision for being a "clear discriminatory administrative action" and filed the complaint with Seoul City's Administrative Judgment Committee.
As many foreign missions have supported SQCF and participated in the festival, its organizing committee approached the Dutch Embassy for a general letter of support. There is a monthly conversation of like-minded foreign envoys in Korea on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) rights, and they used that coordination mechanism to develop the letter.
According to the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, one of the embassies that joined for the letter, supporting the festival is one of the embassy's efforts to promote human rights.
"Taking a leading role in advancing universal human rights is a shared responsibility of the world's democracies," the U.S. Embassy told The Korea Times.
"From the U.S. perspective, the SQCF is an important forum for LGBTQI+ people to be visible, safely gather as a community and advance their human rights. ... The Biden administration has placed human rights at the center of our policy and advancing LGBTQI+ human rights around the world is part of that."
The U.S. Embassy added that it is committed to ending discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and sex characteristics.
"That commitment to gender equity and equality involves continuing to listen to, learn from and advocate for the human rights of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals around the globe, in partnership with human rights defenders and civil society organizations like SQCF," the embassy said.
"To that end, we have provided support for SQCF over the years through participation in the festival and arranging booths. We were proud to be among the first foreign missions to participate, and are happy to see that attendance has grown in recent years," it added.
Yang Sun-woo, also known by the nickname Holic, chairperson of the Seoul Queer Culture Festival Organizing Committee, said the letter shows the foreign missions' long-standing support to the festival and LGBTQ rights in Korea.
"It is not common for a group of foreign embassies in Korea to submit a joint letter of support. I think the letter from the embassies reflects Korea's poor status in LGBTQ+ rights despite the country's developed image," Yang told The Korea Times.
The committee will use it as a supplementary reference in the administrative appeal against Seoul City.
