Introduction: QUEER KOREA: TOWARD A FIELD OF ENGAGEMENT

On September 7, 2013, two South Korean men—gaudily clad in shiny, beige-colored tunic jackets with mandarin collars—held a public wedding ceremony in downtown Seoul.¹ Along the Ch’ŏnggye Stream, a site of recreation typically occupied by straight couples and heterosexual families, Kim/Cho Kwang-su, a gay activist and filmmaker, and Kim Sŭng-hwan, his longtime boyfriend and cinematic collaborator, professed their love for one another at a Las Vegas–style spectacle. In addition to congratulatory remarks offered by media celebrities, the wedding ceremony included upbeat songs performed by the gay men’s chorus and a musical serenade comically enacted by the newlyweds