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“Homo-Hill” is the name of the slight increase in the Itaewon district of Seoul, where three subcultures are found: the Muslim diaspora has established itself in the extreme south. A stone’s throw away prostitutes attract customers. And in the middle, a street is lined with gay and transgender bars – a place of freedom where the strict restrictions of Korean society are far away.
Since Friday, however, the King, Queen and Trunk clubs have been largely cordoned off. Homo-Hill has become a symbol of how fast it can go in the relaxation phases that start everywhere, until fear of a second wave of contagion forces society to stop again.
Young partygoers potentially infect thousands
The trigger for the new Coronapanik in the former model student country of South Korea is the excessive result of a 29-year-old. The man celebrated Friday night a week ago at the newly reopened clubs in Itaewon. On Thursday, he finally tested positive for the corona virus. The next morning, the Korean Disease Prevention Center confirmed that 14 contacts of the young Korean man were infected. That should only be the tip of the iceberg. Finally, the young man visited a total of five clubs and bars and potentially infected up to 2,000 people.
Particularly sensitive in South Korea’s homophobic society: the bars that could now become the focus of the second wave of viruses in the country are all relevant gay clubs. In the eyes of South Korean artist Heezy Yang, who is involved in the gay scene, there is an additional risk: If you register with the responsible authorities, you risk being forced out, Yang says. Finally, the authorities publish the personal data of each newly infected person, anonymised, but with information on age, nationality, area of residence and the sequences of movement during that night. “Those affected could lose their jobs, family, friends,” says gay activist Yang. You could consider yourself lucky if none of them committed suicide.
On the gay scene in South Korea, the case caused “real panic,” says Heezy Yang: “We know what the HIV epidemic has done to our community. And even during Mers, different groups tried to create a mood. against homosexuals. ”Yang fears that influential circles will now try to blame homosexuals for a possible second crown wave.
South Korea is a very homophobic society. Sexual minorities are not protected by a law against discrimination. The greatest discrimination against homosexuals comes from the country’s large free churches, those organizations that fell victim to hate attacks after refusing to cancel services at the start of the crown crisis despite repeated requests from the state.
South Korea had no new infections for four days
South Korea has so far been considered a model student in the fight against viruses. Thanks to coordinated government action, aggressive monitoring, and radical transparency about new infections, the country has successfully contained the virus. As of Friday, there was no infection in the nation of 51 million for four days, only cases imported from abroad.
However, the high-tech nation is now facing a possible second wave of infections. In a first step, the authorities reviewed the lists of names of the affected locations, in which each guest had to enter their phone number since the virus broke out. The government has sent bulk SMS messages to anyone who may be infected to request a test for coronavirus.
