The Itaewon Club COVID-19 Cluster Triggers Homosexual Discrimination In South Korea

Photo illustration (Alexander Popov / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The new COVID-19 case in South Korea (South Korea) is related to a club in the Itaewon area, Seoul. However, there are other highlights related to the new case. South Korean netizens have criticized the gay community club for causing a resurgence in a new wave of the spread of the virus.

Reporting from the Korea Herald, Monday 18 May, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced at a routine COVID-19 briefing that 166 new infections had been traced and linked to COVID-19 cases at the Itaewon club.

Previously, there has been criticism as to why this new case happened. However, this criticism spread from the issue of the virus transmission in the club, to finally criticism of the LGBT community in South Korea as a whole.

"We never say heterosexuals get the coronavirus. We just say someone (without mentioning sexual orientation). Saying that you are a minority group affected by the virus is an expression of hatred," said a person active in the LGBTQ community who wants to be known by his Facebook name. , Kko Kka Sae. He runs a Facebook page where LGBT members support each other.

“Fear has made people blame each other. We're not saying it's heterosexual's fault when there's spread of the virus, "he added.

Many of the LGBT community are disappointed with the current news. They said the coverage of the COVID-19 transmission in Itaewon put too much emphasis on the LGBT community and gave those who hate it an opportunity to attack them on social media.

The Itaewon plague first appeared

On the evening of May 1 and the early hours of May 2, a 29-year-old man visited several clubs in Itaewon, according to KCDC. On May 7, the man tested positive for COVID-19.

At the time the man went to the club, South Korea was still under strict social distancing rules and citizens were advised to stay at home and limit unnecessary contact with other people. Social distancing rules were lifted on May 6.

KCDC deputy director Kwon Joon-wook said that two people were identified as the first to show symptoms on May 2 and said the Itaewon cluster may have 'multiple epicenters or sources'.

But as the news broke, several South Korean media reported that the club the 29-year-old was visiting was a gay club. This information is supplemented by publicly available information about the man's age, where he lives and the places he has visited.

South Korean authorities have urged the public not to target specific individuals or communities. A Ministry of Health official, Yoon Tae-ho, said that there was a tendency for "criticism and hatred towards certain groups where the infection occurred," without explicitly naming the LGBT community.

"Leaking confirmed patient personal information or spreading baseless rumors is not only detrimental to others but can be criminally punished," added Yoon.

In a statement, the LGBT rights advocacy group Solidarity for LGBT Korean Human Rights said the media's decision to reveal the 29-year-old patient's personal details incited hatred and constituted a serious human rights violation.

"The attitude of the media, which is obsessed with revealing the sexual orientation of confirmed cases and digging up information that has nothing to do with this disease, adds to the disease's stigma on the hatred towards minorities that is prevalent in Korean society," he concluded.