AFTER LEGALIZING the import of Real Dolls, a full-body sex doll product, sex dolls are rampant in the market once more. The Korea Customs Service, which had previously banned the customs clearance of sex dolls notwithstanding the court rulings that canceled the suspension order, revised its regulation into allowing the import of adult-shaped "sex dolls." The article will explore how this years-long debate has reached its particular conclusion. 

Background on sex dolls in Korea

   In  2003, Real Doll was first brought up in Korean media[1]. At that time, the customs office suspended the import of not only sex dolls, but even female sex toys.  

   In 2019, the supreme court allowed the import of certain kinds of sex dolls which the court interpreted to depict an adult woman, while they disapproved of those that resembled an adolescent. There was no mention of full-body sex dolls in customs regulations as it was a new subject matter, yet customs clearance banned the doll’s importation based on articles 234 and 237[1] of said regulations. Article 234 designates 'goods that harm customs' as contraband goods, while Article 237 stipulates the suspension of these goods. Even after a supreme court ruling on August 7, 2019, which was widely reported, customs still suspended the item; throughout several litigations, the court constantly canceled the suspension of customs clearance.

Behind the shift in court decision

   The debate on sex doll imports was re-aggravated in 2021 when the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Real Doll importer, in a lawsuit. The suit was filed by a company that imports adult sex toys. The court ruled to cancel the suspension order from the customs at Gimpo Airport in January, 2020 when the company attempted to import a full-body sex doll from a sex toy company in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States, Abyss Creations LLC.

   According to the verdict[2], the court differentiates sex toys from pornography on the basis that they are devices used privately to satisfy the users’ sexual desires. The judge interpreted the underlying rationale of this difference as something the state should not intervene as it is a private matter. Korean law only provides a protective legal medium for adolescents’ exposure to sex toys, therefore, the court concluded that there is no legal grounding to prohibit the import of goods which are used by adults. Although the court recognizes the possibility that the sex dolls may cause emotional aversions from the public, the court determined that such cases can be dealt with criminal law, such as public indecency; such concerns cannot justify restricting imports.

  In response to the consistent court rulings, on December 26, 2022, the Customs Service implemented the revision of “Real-Doll Import Customs Clearance Guidelines”[5]. The revision states that adult-shaped full-body sex dolls are allowed to enter customs, but underage-shaped full-body dolls are prohibited.

   Imported sex dolls go through a specific criteria to determine whether or not they are legal:

1. When considering the overall appearance, such as length, weight, face, voice, and  other physical descriptions, the doll has the shape of a minor; 

2. When the doll is shaped as a specific person;

3. When the doll includes electrical product functions (heat, voice, massage) which require safety checks.

   According to the customs service’s official announcement, the reasons for the change in decision were as follows. First, the court rulings impacted the decision. The Customs Service endorsed the results in the Real Doll’s customs clearance suspension lawsuits where the adult figured sex dolls lost, while the adolescent figured sex dolls won the case. The decision was influenced by foreign cases in managing the sex dolls. The Customs Service took into account that the comprehensive regulations were only imposed on underaged sex dolls in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and etc. 

General contentions over sex doll imports

   Since 2019, there have been heated discussions on the court decision. The main claims of those supporting the import are as follows. First, Sex dolls are necessary for sexually marginalized men to relieve their sexual desire. People with paraphilic disorders such as necrophilia[4] or agalmatophilia[5] cannot fulfill their sexual desires without breaking the law. Some even claim that sex dolls channel the demand of those with violent sexual orientation from the prostitution of actual people to inanimate sex dolls. Along with this, another popular claim is that the sex doll import is necessary for the right of physically disabled people to pursue sexual satisfaction. 

   On the other hand, a popular contention of the opponents is that sex dolls are misogynistic[6]. According to a thesis written by Yun Ji-young (Prof., Institute of Body & Culture, Konkuk Univ.), in the case of sex dolls, the sex organ extends to the whole body, not just the genitals. The customers may personalize the setting by adding resistant or obedient mode at their disposal. Such features suggest that sex dolls fetishize female obedience, extreme body modifications, and sexual assault. Another popular claim is that the sex dolls will amount to real world problems by arousing sexual desires for underaged or non-responsive partners.

   The opponents believe that it is nonsense for the proponents to claim that sex dolls are a convenient way by which the physically disabled people can use to fulfill their sexual desires[7]. Sex dolls that usually weigh from 15 kg to 40 kg, are impossible to be considered “convenient” as it would rather require great strength and effort to use than other light-weighted sex toys. Thus, the sex dolls are not for relieving sexual desires but for sexualizing and achieving a violent sexual fantasy. The opponents claim that the cases from Germany, which adopted sex dolls early, show that the use of sex dolls have not decreased the demand for prostitution. 

   Along the line, there have been refutations on Professor Yun’s claim through several publications. They claim that the opposition is making an argument that sexualizing the simulacra of women will lead to an actual increase in desires to sexually objectify women. However, there is no evident demonstration which proves that the inevitable relationship of this cause-and-effect structure is objectifying women figures—leading to violence against real women.

[1] Maekyung Economy

[2] Court of Korea

[3] Necrophilia: Sexual  attraction to a dead body

[4] Agalmatophilia: Sexual attraction to a figurative object such as a statue, doll and mannequin

[5] Customs and Excise

[6] Culture and Society

[7] Ohmynews