Lee Hee Tae had high hopes for his sex festival, which he proudly billed as South Korea’s “first and largest”.

He envisaged 5,000 fans flocking to see their favourite Japanese porn actors and actresses, who were being flown in for last weekend’s event. There was to be a bondage fashion show, a sex toy exhibition, and some adult games, that involved bursting balloons between people’s bodies.

But with just 24 hours to go, the festival was cancelled.

South Korea is known for its conservative approach to sex and adult entertainment. Public nudity and strip shows are banned, and it is illegal to sell or distribute hard-core pornography, though not to consume it.

“Virtually every developed country has a sex festival, but here in South Korea we don’t even have an adult entertainment culture. I want to take the first steps towards creating one,” said Lee Hee Tae, whose company Play Joker produced legal soft-core pornography before their pivot to organising events.

A month before, women’s rights groups from the town of Suwon, where the event was due to be held, came out to protest. They accused the festival of exploiting women in a country where gender violence is endemic.

This was not, they argued, a festival aimed at both sexes. The heavily female, scantily-clad advertising suggested ticket holders were likely to be overwhelmingly male.

The local mayor condemned the event for taking place near a primary school and the authorities threatened to revoke the venue’s licence if it went ahead. The venue pulled out.

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