SOUTH KOREA: Transgender Korean entertainer Harisu marries her 27-year-old boyfriend in Seoul

Record ID: 523076

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: Transgender Korean entertainer Harisu marries her 27-year-old boyfriend in Seoul
  • Date: 26th May 2007
  • Summary: HARISU AND JUNG POSING FOR PHOTO WITH RELATIVES (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) MR. LEE, HARISU'S FATHER, SAYING: "Ninty-nine points!" REPORTER ASKS: "99 points? Really? What about the remaining 1 point?" LEE REPLIES: "I think the remaining 1 point is not a problem. I hope they just live happily ever after." HARISU AND JUNG IN EACH OTHER'S ARMS CLOSE-UP OF HARISU
  • Embargoed: 10th June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA5PO1MSMBYM04SESXM4CHBQLWL
  • Story Text: South Korean transsexual entertainer Harisu, whose sex change helped the country to change its family registry laws, marries her 27-year-old boyfriend in Seoul.

    A South Korean transsexual entertainer, whose sex change helped the country to change its family registry laws, married on Saturday (May 19).
    The male-to-female singer who goes by the stage name Harisu, 32, married her 27-year-old rapper boyfriend at a ceremony attended by many of the country's top celebrities.
    The surgeon who performed Harisu's sex change operation in 1995 acted as the ceremonial head of the wedding. The couple will spend their honeymoon in Koh Samui, Thailand.
    Mr. Lee, Harisu's father, who once expected to have a daughter in law, is now happy with his son in law.
    "99 points!" he said to reporters when he was asked how he thinks of the son in law. "I think remaining 1 point is not a problem. I hope they just live happily ever after," he added.
    Transsexualism became a hot topic in South Korea's mass media after Harisu was granted a petition by a lower court to change gender in the family registry in 2002.
    South Koreans living in one of the most conservative and Confucian societies in the world have varying ideas on this controversial marriage, which is first to the society.
    Some are positive on their transgender celebrity getting married and welcomed the society is getting opened.
    "I think Harisoo and her presence itself started to open up the closed perception on gender issues that exist in the Korean society," said 25-year-old Han Jin-soo
    However, others are still worried that the society is not ready for transsexualism.
    "If you are born as a man, you are a man. And if you are born as a woman, you are a woman. I personally don't like the fact that people artificially change things destined by the universe. Also the parents (of Harisoo) must have had a hard time. Of course Harisoo herself must have gone through rough times as well, but I think we should live with the given conditions," said 29-year-old Kwon Soon-ho.
    In June 2006, South Korea's Supreme Court ruled transsexuals who have had medical treatment such as sex change operations can legally change their sex in their family registry, a crucial legal document for citizens.
    The family registry and unique personal identification numbers associated with it form the basis of almost all aspects of South Koreans' lives, from getting a job, claiming medical insurance, and even subscribing to a mobile phone service.
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