[Exclusive] Korea Customs Service's Real Doll Import Holds Increase 24-Fold in 4 Years... "Need for Laws and Regulations"

After the 2019 Supreme Court Ruling, Personal Income Soars
Litigation Costs Amount to 14.84 Million KRW

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The Korea Customs Service has yet to establish clear legal grounds for the importation of real dolls, leading to a complete suspension of customs clearance. Concerns are rising that if lawsuits related to these clearance suspensions increase in the future, the burden of litigation costs will grow even heavier.

According to the 'Real Doll Import Status and Litigation Status' submitted by the Korea Customs Service to Kim Ju-young, a member of the National Assembly's Planning and Finance Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, on the 27th, the number of real doll import clearance suspensions rose from 13 cases in 2017 to 307 cases as of August 2021, marking a 24-fold increase over four years. After increasing from 101 cases in 2018 to 356 cases in 2019, 280 cases were suspended in 2020. In the past five years, there was only one instance of real doll customs clearance being allowed, which was due to the Supreme Court's ruling to cancel the suspension of import clearance at that time. The court stated, "Unless there is a need to regulate acts such as openly exhibiting or selling sexual devices that may cause sexual disgust to the public, treating sexual devices as obscene items and banning their import outright should be approached with great caution," and thus ruled to cancel the clearance suspension.

Due to the Korea Customs Service's insufficient standards for real doll imports, litigation costs are expected to increase further. In fact, the Customs Service paid a total of 14.84 million KRW in litigation costs, including 10.23 million KRW following the 2019 Supreme Court loss and 4.61 million KRW for a case withdrawal in 2021. Considering that all 22 ongoing lawsuits in the second and third trials have resulted in losses for the Customs Service at lower courts, litigation costs related to real dolls are expected to rise. Without clear import standards established through social consensus or legislative procedures, the financial burden will only grow.

The Korea Customs Service currently suspends customs clearance for full-body and half-body real dolls with or without heads, as long as the genitalia are realistically represented. This is based on the judgment that there is no social consensus on real dolls. Article 234 of the Customs Act (Prohibition of Export and Import) defines "books, publications, paintings, movies, sound recordings, videos, sculptures, or other similar items that disrupt constitutional order or harm public peace, order, or morals," and under Article 237, customs clearance can be suspended.

Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Ju-young expressed concern, saying, "Because the domestic standards for allowing real dolls are unclear, the Customs Service is blocking customs clearance. If clearance suspensions and lawsuits continue to repeat, administrative and litigation costs will inevitably increase." He added, "Indiscriminate import and distribution should be avoided as they may foster distorted perceptions of women's bodies and sexual concepts. The Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family should take the lead in establishing comprehensive standards for the domestic real doll industry and work on legal amendments and policy development."

Meanwhile, when categorized by importer, individuals accounted for 766 cases and companies for 292 cases over five years. In the early years of importation, 2017 and 2018, companies had a higher proportion than individuals, but after the 2019 Supreme Court ruling, the number of individual imports significantly surpassed that of companies. Individual imports increased from 191 cases last year to 283 cases as of August this year, while company imports decreased from 89 cases last year to 24 cases as of August this year.