No sex please, we're South Korean

[imomus]

A few months ago I crossed swords with Richard Lloyd Parry, the London Times' Tokyo-based Asia correspondent. Parry parried my thrusts (accusations about the visual shabbiness of his blog Asia Exile, and his attitude to Donald Richie) fairly vigorously, and we shook hands and parted company on speaking terms. Since then, I occasionally glance in the direction of Asia Exile to see what he's pondering.

Parry's latest entry there is entitled Flying Seoul-o. It sets out to answer the question "Who are the world's biggest wankers?" and answers it with reference to a page of Pornography Statistics hosted by a company that sells internet filters (and therefore has a vested interest, one might think, in stirring up moral panic).

So, apparently -- according to this page -- the world's biggest (or biggest-spending) wankers are the South Koreans. Whereas the average Japanese spends $156.75 per year on porn (quite a lot compared with the average German's $7.70), the average Korean is spending a whopping, incredible, orgasmic $526.75 on porn. "Despite having a population a fraction of its size," says Parry, "they almost match China for total annual expenditure, consuming a full 27 per cent of the world's porn. Ladies and gentlemen, the Golden Merkin Award for number one in the 2006 Worldwide Pornography Revenues Table goes to . . . South Korea!"

Now, this statistic piqued my, ahem, curiosity. I've never actually seen a Korean porn site. So I decided to try and find one. A keen googler and what I assumed must be the world's largest porn industry (at least by per capita consumption) should have taken mere seconds to connect with each other. But, in an hour of fruitless googling, my seed fell on barren soil. I couldn't locate a single Korean porn site based in Korea.

What I did discover, though, was a wealth of information about South Koreans, the internet and sex. I shall now share this with you. Some of it is astounding.

First of all, the Koreans are incredibly wired. 12 million out of the nation's 15.5 million households are hooked up to the broadband Internet, says The Korea Times. 70% of Koreans are online for an hour or more each month, higher than any other country in the world per capita.

Secondly, the Korean internet is not foreigner friendly. Of the nation's five portals (Naver, Daum, Nate, Yahoo Korea and Paran) only one (Daum) doesn't make it difficult or impossible to subscribe if you aren't Korean, according to the Korea Times article Foreigners Excluded from Korean Sites.

Thirdly -- and this is something you'd expect to be a huge story, and the Times Asia correspondent to have mentioned -- the South Korean government has recently been clamping down on internet sex after some laughably tame incidents in March. An article entitled Foreign Porn Sites Will Be Blocked explains that it all started when two porn videos appeared on Yahoo Korea on March 18th. "Daum, the second-largest portal site, also carried an audio-visual file of foreign fashion models exposing their breasts for approximately seven hours last Tuesday," Korea Times reported. "On the same day, a Web surfer posted a nude photo of a woman at the top portal Naver but the company did not remove the picture for about four hours."

The South Korean government responded to these "wardrobe malfunctions" with wild abandon. “We are set to deny access to porn sites based overseas, with details being unveiled early next week,” said the Ministry of Information and Communication. According to ZD Net Asia, the government's Korea Internet Safety Commission will use domain name and URL filtering methods to check not only IP addresses but also file indexes and sub-directories as well -- "because most of obscene materials originate outside South Korea".

So is that alleged $526.75 per annum per capita Korean pornspend all heading into the coffers of Japanese porn barons? Apparently not. The International Herald Tribune reports that "the Ministry of Information and Communication already has blocked 211 foreign pornographic Web sites, mostly based in the United States, as well as all local porn sites. It plans to extend the crackdown to another 180 major foreign sites by May."

All foreign porn and all local porn blocked? What kind of country is this? Don't they know that porn is one of the main drivers of technological innovation?

But it's Catch-22. The more difficult masturbation gets in South Korea, the more necessary it becomes. The backdrop is a nation with an incredibly conservative attitude to sex. According to the International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, a 1996 survey found that 88.1% of South Korean female students thought that virginity should be kept until marriage. Attitudes to masturbation were shaped by religion, although Korean Christians were more tolerant of masturbation than others: "Buddhists were least positive about masturbation, 54.5 percent, compared with Protestants, 76.9 percent, and Catholics, 91.7 percent."

"As one might suspect from what has already been discussed," the Sexuality Encyclopedia entry concludes rather sadly, "sexual behavior and relationships among Korean single adults are very limited because of negative attitudes toward premarital sexual relationships and the frequency of marriages arranged by parents or according to their socioeconomic status. Thus, it is likely that single adults do not feel a need for sexual relationships."

Comments

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

"quite a lot compared with the average German's $7.70"

Ahahaha, that´s because you can get them at Media Markt for 2 euros or less a piece. *pets collection of hilarious porn*.

This isn't aimed at anyone. An aimless bird.

[(Anonymous)]

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Re: This isn't aimed at anyone. An aimless bird.

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Oh look, we´ve just fallen into 1995!

ah but

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

ASCII graphics are having a resurgence. I see them posted by kids too young to know what ascii is...

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

"Buddhists were least positive about masturbation, 54.5 percent, compared with Protestants, 76.9 percent, and Catholics, 91.7 percent."

What does the percentage represent here - those who admit to doing it, or those who just say it's okay, or something else entirely different?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

"47 percent of Korean people still consider Buddhism as their faith. Buddhists in general are instructed to give up all desires, including those related to sex, and sexual activities are prohibited in many sects... Yoo, Oh, and Soh (1990) asked about parents’ attitudes toward masturbation to see their relationship to their children’s masturbation. In 75.2 percent of the parents showing positive attitudes toward their own masturbation, there was a linear trend by age: 77.8 percent in the parents in their 50s, 75.9 percent in their 40s, and 56.1 percent in their 30s. In terms of religious adherence, Buddhists were least positive about masturbation, 54.5 percent, compared with Protestants, 76.9 percent, and Catholics, 91.7 percent."

[imomus.livejournal.com]

So it's rather more complex than I suggested: this is a breakdown-by-religion of measurement of parents' attitudes to their children's masturbation, when their attitude to their own masturbation is already positive.

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

I see. Or I think I do. I suppose I wondered what the citeria for a positive response were.

I've always felt there was something a little castrating about Buddhism, actually, though it's a religion/philosophy that fascinates me.

Daoism, which, of course, is an influence on and precursor to Zen, seems far less castrating and precriptive, and, for me, is more attractive on account of that.

source?

[(Anonymous)]

Where's your source? The figure's wayyyy too high; very wrong...I know that at least 50% of the South Korean population is Athiest, while the majority religion is Christianity (mainly catholic) with ~30%, followed by buddhism and a tiny Islam following.

[imomus.livejournal.com]

One pretty incredible fact is that, from the 2006 porn consumption figures in the pie chart, 76% of the world's porn is bought by three Asian countries -- South Korea, China and Japan. Anglo countries (UK, US and Australia) consume less than 20% of the world's porn.

[qscrisp.livejournal.com]

I do find this surprising. I remember when I lived in Taiwan, I came across figures that suggested the Taiwanese libido was particularly weak, and my own very casual observation seemed to tally with this. Chinese society on the whole, I had been led to believe, is both very sexually strict, because of Confucian influence, and also not particularly libidinous (therefore not prone to the Victorian dichotomy of outward chastity and hidden debauchery).

The porn figures would seem to be evidence against this view, unless, proportionate to population, the Chinese consumption is, after all, insignificant.

[neil-scott.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's something to do with feeling happy and safe to pay for porn online.

Budhists and the Penis?

[pay-option07.livejournal.com]

I know of festivals where a deity goes through the streets wearing a large phallus and rubbing it on everyone! I'm a bit confused about that shinto practice, but in Asia the penis has great significance.


http://www.digitaljournal.com/search/penis%20emporium

Re: Budhists and the Penis?

[imomus.livejournal.com]

According to that German sex encyclopedia I was quoting (http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/IES/japan.html), the more positive Japanese attitude to sex is entirely due to Shinto:

"The Shinto religion recognizes neither good nor evil, so the concept of sin and personal guilt so commonly associated with sex in Western cultures does not exist in the Japanese tradition. The persistence of fertility festivals echoes the acceptance of sex and romance as a natural component of everyday life. Rooted in folk religions and primitive animism, these festivals are celebrated by revelers wearing traditional masks representing the more frankly sexual and comical denizens of Shinto myth and carrying oversized papier-mâché phalli and vulva through the streets (Bornoff 1991, 14-15, 89-90)."

Re: Budhists and the Penis?

[mcgazz.livejournal.com]

But why is this Japanese attitude to sex not reflected in their porn, which seems to consist of unskilled older men pawing amatuerishly at ultra-submissive women, who're usually dressed as schoolgirls or maids, drugged to the eyeballs and remain resolutely unaroused throught?

More than any other porn, Japanese stuff has a (hypercapitalist) obsession with degrading, humiliating and demeaning women, and expressing asymmetries of power. Even US stuff (the next worse for that sort of thing), allows women some agency now and again.

Compare and contrast with, say, Swedish group sex videos, where men and women have equal say, everyone is enjoying themselves, and no one is 'getting one over' on anyone else.

But wait,,

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

Since when does how much you spend on porn indicate how much porn you consume? My friends that consume porn do not spend money on it, they pick up binaries from newsgroups

I'm sorry to hear South Korea is a bit prudish. I was thinking Seoul might be a nice place for a U.S. expat hangout

[cerulicante.livejournal.com]

Koreans don't ever feel the need to tell the truth to any non-Korean. They think that if you're not Korean, you were cursed by the gods.


A Korean girl will go to church, say she will wait until marriage to have sex and be banging 5 different guys, none of whom know about the other 4 guys.

[thehakujin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's same as Catholic schoolgirl syndrome. Normal desire is put under pressure.

Also Buddhists in general are not gonna tell you masturbation is "good", but that doesn't mean anything either. Did they ask if it was "bad" or just "not good"? These are concerns of dualists! (Not...duelists.)

[cheapsurrealist.livejournal.com]

A Korean girl will go to church, say she will wait until marriage to have sex and be banging 5 different guys, none of whom know about the other 4 guys.

Fortunately that type of behavior is limited to Korean Girls.

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

<< A Korean girl will go to church, say she will wait until marriage to have sex and be banging 5 different guys, none of whom know about the other 4 guys >>

hahaha good for them. Too bad they're too intimidated by the church to be straight up about their choices

hey cerulicante

[zzberlin.livejournal.com]

I wanted to apologize to you. I made a snide remark about your Click Opera comments a few Click Operas ago that I want to take back. I actually really like your contributions here because I think they're often representative of viewpoints not otherwise heard, and I think that's important to public discourse, so I'm sorry I was negative a few days ago

[thehakujin.livejournal.com]

Another thought is they are buying the really good porn.

*ding*

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Also, what about fanfiction and other community-based porn? Girls everywhere consume lots of that.

And to get to it you need to spend a lot of time online yet spend no money (unless you join something like rockfic). It is furthermore nearly impossible to block or control.

girl you are a groove, you're like the planets when you move..

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

Yes. I remember "researching" the Janeway/Seven Of Nine lesbian development at online star trek erotica sites. Suck My Mind as Funkadelic said.

gonna give up all my load gonna ooh yeah

[electricwitch.livejournal.com]

Bolan: almost porn.

Hahaha, what a great research topic.

the penis mightier than the sword

[niddrie-edge.livejournal.com]

I love all those pics you put up for this post. Deliciously incongruous, but what do I know. There may be some significance I am unaware of.
Have you seen the movie Demonlover (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284034/)?

[beketaten.livejournal.com]

I would make an extremely crappy Korean.

[(Anonymous)]

The oddest part about these no-sex statistics is that the current youth culture seems to be fully sexualized, or at least, sensualized (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4F1xVEBtIA). It reminds me somewhat of the puritannical censorship culture in the U.S. clashing with the kindergartners having make-up parties/worshipping Paris Hilton. Something's gotta give.

Perhaps that's what's happening in Korea now? This 2007 survey says that 33% of teenagers agree with cohabitation before marriage (http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200703/kt2007030818163511980.htm), and likely the numbers would be even higher for premarital sex in general.

[(Anonymous)]

(...Something odd happened to my links. But I do recommend watching the youtube link. It's a super cute commercial that reflects the "girl power as femininity" idea that Momus brings up now and then.)

CUNNILINGUS IN NORTH KOREA

[(Anonymous)]

http://www.yhchang.com/CUNNILINGUS_IN_NORTH_KOREA.html

Re: CUNNILINGUS IN NORTH KOREA

[imomus.livejournal.com]

Samsung means to come (http://www.yhchang.com/SAMSUNG_MEANS_TO_COME.html)

False stats?

[(Anonymous)]

I can only think of one Korean porn site off-hand - Ama10 ( http://www.haja10.com/ ). I'm sure there's a few others around but my Hangul knowledge isn't quite up to finding them all. Either way, I think there must be literally a million times more Japanese and US porn sites on the web than Korean ones (and mainland Chinese ones are also quite limited).

So I'm not too sure if those Korean porn stats are reliable. I really doubt Koreans consume more porn than Europeans, though perhaps some of them pay for expensive US porn whilst the rest of us download it free...

But what makes me think the statistics are truly incorrect, is China's porn consumption... Yes there are a lot of people in China, but not that many are actually online, and most Chinese surf from PC cafes (and I doubt too many of those have credit cards). So I can't imagine the number of Chinese who can pay for porn and view it in privacy is that high... and based on my own observations in Shanghai I didn't see that many men having a sneaky wank in the PC cafes.

[(Anonymous)]

As a South Korean unmarried female, I would like to jump in on this one.

I'm exactly that girl.. I go to church every sunday, sleep with 5 differnet guys (when I can manage to find the right ones that'll keep their mouths shut about it), and blush convincingly in public at the mere hint of sex. Hence the anonymous posting.

So here's my take - Sex is easy in Korea. It's everywhere! There are love motels on every corner that charge by the hour. There are parties hosted by college clubs/groups that require attendees to get drunk and pick a mate and well...mate.

Yes they (the girls) say that they think it's wrong to have premarital sex but I strongly doubt any of them are virgins and the guys equally understand that it's just something the girls say.

As for korean porn, there are korean file sharing sites (the equivalent to the kazaa or original napster) that can share porn without being detected. I get most of mine directly from people I met on korean chat sites and even some torrent sites. On a sidenote, Korean porn is always amateur porn with bad angles, more dialogue, unattractive people, and about the same amount of whining and crying as Japanese bondage porn.

Koreans are horny people that have fun hiding it from the rest of the world (and from each other).

Don't ask me why we feel the need to hide it so much...it doesnt really matter as long as you're getting some.

She is totally right...

[(Anonymous)]

Im wekukin (foreigner in Korea), and I realized that what koreans say is not allways what they intend. I have sex with my korean girlfriend, with my korean teacher (married), and with the korean secretary of my university's deperment.
Besides, I always ask for "helpers" girls in norebang (karaokes), and also I had sex with them.
But there is just one small secret in all this game. You never, ever mention that you have sex.You never remeber nothing after orgasm and the most important thing...say that you was drunk and dont remember nothing.

I love korean culture Han kuk moon wha ssarang hie!!

Re: She is totally right...

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah? I love having sex with your mama. you're leading a decadent life and I would cut your balls off if I ever met you in person. I really hate both men and women who just 'enjoy' sex, even more so those who cheat on their partners and like to cheat with other people's partners. Premarital sex is not right, as isn't your dumb 'boasting' about how many women you can bang out of desperation. I'll bet all of those women are sluts and you, a manwhore.

Not a Korean Female

[(Anonymous)]

I highly doubt this is a Korean female, the English is perfect in it. I spent the last year teaching all levels of English and no one I saw there would get anywhere near the flow in this.

Although there is some insight into Korean culture do not believe for a second this is a Korean girl, and trust me. If their English was this good theyd be living it up to the full and probably wouldnt even be living in Korea anymore.

what is

[(Anonymous)]

the sound of one hand wanking?
not to mention several million!
;)

B.

[lupoleboucher.livejournal.com]

From that I have read, prostitution makes up a sizeable portion of the South Korean national economy. The number of barber shop poles and juicy girl bars in the country rather indicate this is really the case. To say nothing of the ladies in black. FWIIW, the Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan pretty much set it up that way, along with the national system of "love motels" which provide Koreans with a way of conducting affairs in an anonymous fashion.

Korean hypocrisy about sex is actually a good thing. If you've ever been there and hung around with koreans for a few minutes, you'd realize why. They're the least jaded and degenerate people on the planet. Their wholesomeness is downright spooky. They are sentimental and geniune, like some kind of bizarro throwback to Wally Cleaver land. It's not an act! They live in a society where it is possible for women to walk around unmolested at all hours of the evening, and where you can actually leave your door unlocked, or leave your wallet in a bar and expect it to be there the next day, unmolested.

[xishimarux.livejournal.com]

I think the low numbers for porno in Germany are that way because you can just buy the poontang for about the same price as a 2 DVD's. :)

Numbers caused by government closings?

[(Anonymous)]

Good question if those figures are rising, steady or a particular circumstance? The thought occurred that there may have been a massive spike caused by the nationwide red light district closings. From what I heard without doing any actual research there was some kind of huge government closing of live sex industry venues not too long ago. Perhaps that happened with the right timing to result in money not spent on live entertainment being spent online then showing up in your data?