In January, Son Simba, a Korean rapper, uploaded an Instagram story asking, “There are people who are busy selling, collectively concealing, or even defending, novels and paintings that have perverted sex involving real people?” The post referred to Real Person Slash (RPS): content featuring celebrities or other real people in homosexual relations. It soon spread on social media and caught the attention of the general public, many of whom were outraged. The controversy resulted in a petition to penalize RPS users and protect the involved real persons – mainly underage male singers – on the official Cheong Wa Dae website.

RPS originates from fanfiction culture, which has been prevalent since the first generation of Korean pop (K-pop) groups, commonly called “idols.” When fanfiction first began, it was mainly about homosexual relationships among male idols. In 2006, SM Entertainment (SM), one of the largest entertainment companies in Korea, held the first TVXQ Fanfiction contest. This somewhat confirmed that fanfiction took up sufficient space in fandoms, both economically and culturally; consequently, they were often even encouraged by entertainment agencies. It has even been suspected that management companies encourage a homosexual couple-like atmosphere between male idols. As such, the culture of drawing famous figures in sexual content is not new.

The Muddy Fan Culture

Of numerous elements in the formerly mentioned fandom culture, RPS is being considered a problem for several reasons. The term slash is a colloquial expression to describe a romantic relationship between two men; therefore, RPS refers to writing or art about a fictional homosexual relationship in an extreme manner between real male figures, mostly celebrities. Female fans, especially, describe the culture as “an escape from reality,” reported the South China Morning Post (SCMP). The fans often indulge in slash genre to experience a sense of guilty pleasure and imagine sensational scenes usually not portrayed in everyday life.

It is a sad fact that both female and male entertainers – as well as politicians, actors, and even some non-public figures – have always been victims of sexual abuse in the virtual world. With their roots in this undesirable culture of sexual objectification of celebrities, new technologies such as deepfake, which allows for face-switching in videos, simply add on to the adulteration of the individuals’ reputation. Such multimedia content that involves real persons engaging in intimate practices is constitutionally illegal to make, or even disseminate to others.

However, there are no current legal restrictions upon sexual real person fiction along the lines of RPS. Pursuant to No. 2 of Article 14 in the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, crimes that involve editing and manipulating sexual video materials and distributing them may be punished. On the other hand, there is no constraint on whether or not writings and images feature real people, which is why RPS has not yet been subjected to penalization despite so many disapproving voices since its rise to the surface.

Freedom of Expression or Sexual Exploitation?

Some oppose the idea that RPS should be punished at all since they believe fanfiction like RPS is merely one form of showing their love for and engaging with the entertainers they admire. Those who believe so also claim that “the freedom of expression should not be suppressed,” while others contest that RPS is too related to the explicit exhibition of pornographic images of idols. For the reasons stated above, those who maintain that RPS does not have a harmful effect hope to preserve the genre and keep any future laws from sanctioning it.

Standing on the side of penalizing RPS, Ha Tae Keung, a legislative member of the People Power Party, maintained, “The public should reconsider the polluted practices (RPS) as a form of sexual exploitation, not just someone’s playful entertainment.” Ha’s statement represents the opinion that freedom of expression should only be enjoyed to the extent where it does not violate someone else’s right to sexual self-determination.

Putting his words into action, Ha proposed a bill targeted at RPS and related content on February 9. The bill’s intention is to “correct the ambiguity of the present Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes and impose a sentence of up to five years in prison or a fine up to 50 million won” for those who edit, fabricate, or produce sexual publication based on real people. Furthermore, Ha has requested for an investigation into 110 RPS pieces to Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station on January 19 and continues to examine fan communities for further updates.

While Ha is putting great effort into abolishing RPS, some speak up with concern that this issue is receiving too bright a spotlight. For instance, culture critic Wi Geun Woo wrote on his social media, “It is odd to argue that sex crimes for men and women now are treated equally as soon as men idols are targeted.” He further stated that “putting the RPS case and the Nth room incident on the same level,” – which was one of Ha’s claims – was not a discussion to correct the cracks within K-pop culture, but rather a forced struggle to equate RPS to all crimes of men sexually objectifying women. It is because, the fact is, female idols have been and still are suffering from the scars that sexual deepfake content and fanfiction have made.

Granting self-satisfaction through sexual objectification with portraits of real people, RPS is being condemned by many. The proposed problems are that RPS not only brings adulteration to idol culture but also overlooks the individuals’ feelings. It is commendable that Ha Tae Keung is working hard to seek a cleaner future; however, as Wi asserted, prioritizing this issue before dealing with other more obvious forms of sexual abuse may not be evaluated as healthy management of sex-related crimes. It has yet to be decided if or how punishment will be conducted for the first distributors and readers of RPS. Regardless of the results, it will be beneficial for our society to take a step back and view this issue with a clear eye.