How do you know you're "gay", if you've never heard of "gay?"
Does something exist if there is no word to describe it? Consider the experience of Jang Yeong-jin.
Yeong-jin grew up without a word to describe his feelings for other men, but his life is an object lesson in the need for clarity in our self-understanding.
Here is a quote from a NYT story about the life of Jang Yeong-Jin:
“In North Korea, no ordinary people conceptually understand what homosexuality is,” said Joo Sung-ha, who attended the elite Kim Il-sung University in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, in the 1990s and now works as a reporter for the mass-circulation South Korean daily Dong-A Ilbo. “In my university, only half the students may have heard of the word. Even then, it was always treated as some strange, vague mental illness afflicting subhumans, only found in the depraved West."
- 'North Korean Defector Opens Up About Long-held secret: His Homosexuality.' - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world/asia/north-korea-defector-jang-yeong-jin-gay.html?fb_ref=Default&_r=0
The NK government maintains that there are no homosexuals in North Korea, where (they maintain) the people have "sound morals."
However, whether there is a name or not, male to male sexual behaviour may still exist. In his book Yeong-Jin tells how, even as a child, he fell in love with another boy,
'... even when he developed a crush on another boy named Seon-cheol. They continued their friendship after moving to Pyongyang, where they attended different colleges.“When the subway was crowded, I sat on Seon-cheol’s lap, and he would hug me from behind,” Mr. Jang said. “People didn’t care, thinking we were childhood friends.” ' (Note 1)
And in the Army (Note 2) Jang notes:
“In winter, when soldiers were given only two threadbare blankets each and little heat, it was common for us to find a partner and sleep hugging each other at night to keep warm,” Mr. Jang said. “We considered it part of what the party called ‘revolutionary comradeship.’ ”
and the NYT story states:
Other North Korean defectors have reported homosexual behavior in the North Korean military, where soldiers serve mandatory 10-year tours with few chances of meeting the opposite sex. ... “There was a lot of sexual abuse, like groping at night,” a former North Korean military officer, Choe Jong-hun, told Chosun TV, a South Korean cable channel, in August. “But we later found ourselves having new recruits lying beside us. ... ”In Mr. Jang’s front-line unit, he said, officers and senior soldiers bribed him with apples and food to lure him into their blankets. After performing nighttime sentry duty in a snowstorm, he said, he would find comfort “in the bosom” of his favorite platoon leader.
From across the border, propaganda broadcasts from South Korea enticed the cold lonesome Communist soldiers to defect, promising “meat, monthly leave and pretty women.”
When he married (Note 3) Jang remembers that on his wedding night he could think ONLY of his young friend Seon-Cheol.
The rest of Jang's story is at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world/asia/north-korea-defector-jang-yeong-jin-gay.html?fb_ref=Default&_r=0
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Notes:
1. This can be regarded as normal behaviour in East Asian societies (and, probably as non-sexual) for boys and young men to hug, walk hand in hand and be close to each other in ways, that may invite abuse in western (Americanised societies).
2. Male only societies (military,catholic priesthood, prison) are notorious for the development of male to male sexual behaviour. It should be noted that this may not make the participants in such behaviour, "gay" in the sense of 'desire' rather than 'action,' as such participants may revert to heterosexual behaviour when released from the restricted social group. When he married (the societal pressure to marry is very strong in all East Asia societies.
3. Pressure to marry is very strong in ALL East Asian societies.
4. In spite of all the taboos, teasing male to male behaviour is very common, and can be noted on South Korean TV. It hints at a different behind-the-scenes behaviour that is different to "official' attitudes.