Korean Artists Disguise as Japanese to Avoid Arrest
Did you know that the “Japanese artist” you follow might actually be Korean? Laws in South Korea regarding adult content are so strict that there are real cases of artists being arrested for drawing R18 doujins of Blue Archive.
In a recent discussion on Twitter, Korean and Japanese artists revealed that it is quite common for Koreans to lie about their nationality to avoid getting arrested!
It all started when a Japanese account posted the following tweet in Korean for their Korean friends to reply:
“I heard that in Korea, drawing or publishing erotic images can be a legal problem. Is this true? Is that why you don’t draw this kind of image much?”
Here are some of the best responses from Koreans:
“Ten years ago, a South Korean parliament member suggested, ‘How about legalizing pornography?’ That politician received every possible insult… and the next day apologized for his statements. He also gave up running in the next parliamentary election. The chance of erotic content laws changing in Korea is very low.”
“Yes, it’s true. Because of the law… previously, the vice-representative also said that in Korea, merchandise like acrylic stands sell better than doujinshi. Those who can properly draw erotic images try to hide their nationality, using IDs in Japanese or English and working only in those languages.”
“Imagine selling a Blue Archive doujinshi at Comiket and being accused of child sexual exploitation, getting arrested on the spot. This happens frequently in Korea. The case I mentioned really happened at a fanart event in Korea.”
“This is exactly why many Korean artists hide their nationality.”
“If you are Korean and want to draw erotic images, your posting account must completely avoid using Korean. I can’t do that, so there was a time when everything exploded and broke apart.”
“In fact, there have been artists who drew adult works and received a 3-year prison sentence with 4 years probation.”
I researched this law further and saw that the situation in South Korea is very strict. Adult manhwas only exist under rules and censorship, and can only be sold in safe locations with confirmation that the customer is of legal age. Even so, there is heavy censorship.
Reactions from Japanese users:
- That’s why many Koreans only use Japanese on their accounts or change their profile to look Japanese.
- This is really tough…
- Finally understood the mystery of clearly Korean artists who write their name and profile in Japanese. They are camouflaging…
- I think erotic images are much more open in Japan…
- In fact, if you post erotic images publicly, you often face a flood of reports. That’s why they hide their nationality or play only in private spaces.
- Censorship in Korea is extremely strict; genital depictions cannot be shown, not even with mosaics (must be processed in white), and +18 works cannot contain incest, orgies, or crimes.
- Very sad 😭 I wanted to see lots of erotic illustrations from Koreans.
- So that’s why Korean erotic artists use Japanese names and write in Japanese…?
- Confucian influence is strong in Korea, and it is also the most Christian-influenced country in Asia. That’s why they can’t show things openly.
- Some information had already reached Japan, but I didn’t know the details.
- The doujinshi situation in the neighboring country… I heard it’s very strict, but…
What a new discovery!