“We strongly condemn 2024 K-XF The Fashion as it sexually commercialises female body and sexual activities,” said members from more than a dozen social and civic organisations during a protest against hosting the expo.

“[The festival] is simply an event where it makes it natural for men to satisfy their sexual desire through prostitution and sexually exploiting females,” one of the participants said.

They called on authorities to “immediately” scrap the event, where patrons can receive autographs from the adult stars, to stop the commodifying of women.

A Suwon City Hall official said 1,000 people attended the festival’s inaugural edition in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi province last year.

“We’re expecting 100,000 visitors this year,” the official said, adding the local government cannot step in to cancel the show as it is being held at a private exhibition hall.

But authorities urged residents to “refrain from participating as we also see that it will have a negative impact on adolescent education”, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

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How Japanese women are driven into debt and sex work by host clubs

How Japanese women are driven into debt and sex work by host clubs

In South Korea, the patriarchal custom of women being provided for entertainment can be traced to the second-century gisaeng culture, which involved women from outcast or slave families being trained as courtesans to provide artistic entertainment and conversation to upper-class men.

The country enacted an anti-prostitution law in 2004 that carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of three million won ($2,251) for anyone convicted of selling or purchasing sex.

The legislation, however, appeared to have had a limited effect on the vice industry, with a 2017 government report showing more than half of South Korean men had paid for sex at least once in their lives.

Some actresses have accused production houses of coercing them to engage in intercourse without protection and even being gang-raped during filming.