Korea’s “18th National Nude Photography Contest” Gets Called Off After The Local Government Faces Massive Backlash For Sponsoring The Event

Cheorwon-gun, a county in the Gangwon Province, is currently at the center of a raging controversy after it got reported that the county has cancelled its 18th National Nude Photography Contest.

Local news outlets reported that the county has called off its annual contest that was supposed to be held on October 22, after the local government got criticized heavily for sponsoring the event. According to reports, the local government allocates around ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,000 USD) every year to support this contest.

The competition has been deemed highly inappropriate by the public since most of the participating photographers are men and the models are younger women. Since each participant has to pay ₩50,000 KRW (about $35.00 USD) to enter the competition, it is very clearly a commercialization of women’s bodies.

Though the organizers argued that there are male models as well, in the last ten years of the competition’s history, no male model has been photographed. Korean netizens expressed their disgust and horror at this event, since many didn’t seem to know about its existence at all.

Translation:

• “The participants, the organizers, the photographers, everyone is a problem. This is so dirty.”
• “I don’t understand anyone in that event… especially the organizers and the models…”
• “They gave 10 million won for such an event every year…”
• “Please get a hold of yourself.”
• “You’re telling me such an event exists…”