By Rachel Stine



Following the release of the biographical film "Bohemian Rhapsody," South Korea has fallen in love with Queen's lead singer, Freddy Mercury.



Large movie theaters have arranged "sing-along screenings" of the biopic. The film spent two weeks at the top of box office charts. Since the premiere, Korea has been experiencing a full-on Queen revival, with crowds celebrating a brilliant musician who died early due to AIDS complications.



South Korea loves Freddie Mercury. But it spurns people with HIV.



With World AIDS Day arriving December 1, it's important to reflect on the human cost of South Korea's extreme HIV/AIDS stigma . In 2016, a report co-authored by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed citizens about their understanding of the disease. The results were stomach-churning.





Red HIV/AIDS awareness ribbon. Yonhap



The study found that 35 percent of South Koreans believe HIV can be spread by mosquitoes. Seven out of 10 said it would be "difficult to get along with an HIV-positive neighbor," and 74 percent said that people affected must have "a promiscuous sex life." A separate UNAIDS study found that 35.5 percent of HIV-positive Koreans had felt suicidal within the past 12 months. A 2005 report found that around 50 percent of Koreans said they "would not care for an HIV-positive family member." And yet, 89 percent of the KCDC study respondents said they had never actually tested themselves.



This cultural aggression has medical consequences. In a world where new infections are decreasing sharply, South Korea's rate of HIV/AIDS has quadrupled between 2000 and 2015 . UNAIDS describes the situation as "an epidemic of fear," and health researcher Sini-Petriina Kuusisto has found that Korea's government policy actually fuels the epidemic rather than curbing it.



"The government needs to stop allowing false information about HIV to circulate in the media," said Son Moon-soo, the president of the Korean Network of People living with HIV/AIDS , or KNP+. "Christian groups are particularly active in attacking our community. They have consistently lobbied against anti-discrimination legislation, saying that it will normalize homosexuality. To them, HIV is 'a gay person's problem.' Instead of having compassion, many churches insist HIV is 'the consequence of a sinful lifestyle.' It is critical that the South Korean government does more to combat misinformation and give citizens the facts."



The common myths Son is referring to are far removed from reality. Today, affected people live near-normal lifespans and medication is constantly improving. They can date, get married and have children without ever passing on the virus. The landmark PARTNER studies ― which are massive in scale and extensively peer-reviewed ― have proven that if a person has an undetectable viral load, it is near-impossible for them to transmit HIV. In 2018, being diagnosed is certainly inconvenient, but it is no death sentence. CRISPR gene editing technology may even cure HIV within the next 10 to 15 years.





Rachel Stine and Song Moon-soo, founder of KNP+



Yet in the economic powerhouse of South Korea, people are still dying because of AIDS.



"Unbelievably, the disease actually kills people in our country," Son Moon-soo explained at his desk in KNP+ headquarters. "The shame is so great that most infected individuals don't seek treatment, because that would require giving their first and last name to the government for insurance purposes. Instead, they stay silent until they're in the hospital completely ravaged by an AIDS-related illness. By then, the damage is done. Even if doctors can bring these patients back from the brink of death, they may have permanent physical damage, like blindness or tuberculosis cysts."



This permanent damage occurs because AIDS itself doesn't kill people ― it makes people vulnerable to opportunistic infections, like tuberculosis. These infections are what actually lead to death.



If a South Korean AIDS patient does die, there is still extreme fear that their family will discover the cause. On this matter, Son chose to relay a personal experience.



"I have a younger friend who is positive and not in good health. He asked: 'If I die, my family will find out I had AIDS. What should I do?' And I don't know what to say. Because the stigma in our country is so unparalleled, HIV-positive Koreans try to keep their status a secret even from beyond the grave. Worse, many hospitals outright refuse to treat people with HIV, even though this violates medical law. Staff say 'our facilities aren't designed to accommodate people with your diagnosis,' so you cannot get treatment here. That's not true at all. It's an excuse."





The cover of Gift, KNP+'s anthology of HIV/AIDS stories