[Notice] Important Announcement on KQCF's Request to Use Seoul Plaza (17.04.11)

Hello, we are the KQCF Organizing Committee.

 

KQCF has been held in Seoul Plaza since 2015. Although it has been held there for the past 2 years, it has never been easy to use Seoul Plaza for KQCF.

 

In 2015, we had to change the date urgently, and in 2016, the day before KQCF, we received an official document titled [2016 KQCF Seoul Plaza Compliance and User Guide] from Seoul City Government. This document was created due to queer-phobic civil complaints. It stated, “…special measures have been prepared in order to prevent for-profit advertising and sales activities, the disturbance of civilians freely passing through the area, and the occurrence of any kind of disgusting behaviors…”

 

But what is considered ‘disgusting behavior’?

 

However, despite these happenings, the organizing committee carried out KQCF according to the planned schedule, and we held the biggest, the hottest, and the most successful festival with the greatest number of people.

 

In 28 February 2017, the organizing committee submitted a use declaration form to Seoul City to hold 2017 KQCF in Seoul Plaza. The requested date was 3 June 2017, and Seoul City noted that because 4 organizations submitted use declaration forms to use Seoul Plaza on that day, we need to coordinate use of the plaza. For about one month, there were 3 coordination meetings, but nothing has been decided yet.

 

Seoul city is now delaying its decision related to the acceptance of use declaration form of Seoul Plaza. According to Seoul City, it is because there are no measurable results of these coordination meetings, and an anonymous organization is occupying Seoul Plaza without permission and is delaying the decision process so it seems it’s impossible to use Seoul Plaza in June.

 

In addition, these queer-phobic groups started the ‘Ordinance Revision of Seoul Plaza Movement’. They insist that the ordinance needs to be changed from a report system to a permit system, saying this ‘illegal obscene festival’ should be stopped.

 

In this situation, the Organizing Committee will do its best to hold 2017 KQCF in Seoul Plaza, because, to quote the queer-phobic groups themselves, “if KQCF is held in Seoul Plaza for the third year in a row, it can become an official event of the Republic of Korea.”

 

We need your continuous attention and support to make sure Seoul Plaza will be filled with the colors of the rainbow on ‘SATURDAY, 3 JUNE 2017’.

We will continue to notify you of any news regarding the use of Seoul Plaza as our efforts continue.

 

Thank you.