South Korean officials have lifted an import ban on adult-sized sex dolls. The decision comes after years of debate over whether the government was interfering in people’s private lives. The Korea Customs Service said the revised guidelines allow adult-shaped dolls through customs, but child-like dolls resembling minors are still prohibited. Sex dolls are not illegal in South Korea.
However, thousands of them have been seized by customs since 2018. Officials blocked the import of life-size sex dolls under a law that restricts goods that are seen as harming South Korea’s traditions and public morals.
Importers initially took their complaints to court asking for the ban to be lifted and for the release of the dolls in customs.
They said the products did not impinge on human dignity.
In 2019, the Supreme Court upheld a decision that sex dolls are used for personal use and fall under the same category as pornography, which is tightly regulated, but legal.