Prostitution in North Korea
Prostitution in North Korea is illegal, and according to the North Korean government does not exist,[1] but it is still practiced discreetly.[2]
State prostitution
The North Korean government engages in forced prostitution. Its prostitutes are known as manjokcho (만족조 “satisfaction team(s)”) and are organised as a part of the kippŭmjo, who are drafted from among 14 to 20 year old virgins, trained for about 20 months, and often “ordered to marry guards of [Kim Jong-il] or national heroes” when they are 25 years old.[3] For a girl selected to serve in the kippŭmjo, it is impossible to refuse, even if she is the daughter of a party official.[3] Manjokcho must have sex with male high-ranking party officials. Their services are not available to most North Korean men.[3] Not all kippŭmjo work as prostitutes – the source used is unclear as to whether only adult women are assigned to prostitution, or whether there is prostitution of children; other kippŭmjo activities are massaging and half-naked singing and dancing.
Chinese prostitution in North Korea
Many Chinese women are working as prostitutes in the Kumgangsan Tourist Region of North Korea. Chinese prostitutes’ clients in North Korea are often South Korean men who are travelers.[4]
Female defectors in Northern China
North Korean women are increasingly falling victim to sex exploitation in China attempting to escape poverty and harsh conditions in their homeland. Nearly 10,000 women are reported to have escaped from North Korea to China[5]; many of them are forced into sexual slavery according to human rights groups.[6][7]
According to a source from 2005, “60 to 70 % of North Korean defectors in the People's Republic of China are women, 70 to 80 % of whom are victims of human trafficking.”[3] Violent abuse starts in apartments near the border, from where the women are then moved to cities further away to work as sex slaves. When Chinese authorities arrest these North Korean slaves, they repatriate them. North Korean authorities keep such repatriates in penal labour colonies (and/or execute them), execute any Chinese-fathered babies of theirs “to protect North Korean pure blood” and force abortions on all pregnant repatriates not executed.[3]
Further reading
- Kim, Eunyoung, Mirang Park, Hue Williams. "A Case Study of Trafficking in North Korean Women in China". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Nov 13, 2007
- Yoon, Bang-Soon. "Sex-Trafficking and Human Rights of North Korean Women Defectors". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association 48th Annual Convention, USA, Feb 28, 2007
References
- ^ "Korea DPR". Retrieved 2008-09-18.
- ^ Kim Il-song's North Korea by Helen-Louise Hunter. Published by Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999
- ^ a b c d e “Intervention Agenda Item 12: Elimination of Violence Against Women” at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in April 2004; speaker: Ji Sun JEONG for A Woman's Voice International (AWVI, an NGO that focused on the PRC's and DPRK's treatment of North Korean refugees to China and of Christians). Incidentally, exactly one year after her speech, the ECOSOC's Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which “is the UN body that adjudicates requests by nongovernmental organizations for accreditation to participate in ECOSOC and its subsidiaries’ meetings”,[1] suspended AWVI at the instigation of the PRC's delegation. This came after another AWVI speaker activated a Chinese taser gun to illustrate torture by PRC authorities while giving his speech at the UNCHR's 61st plenary session.[2][3][4]
- ^ "'금강산 관광=sex 관광?'" (in Korean). naver News.
- ^ "'2008 USCRI RefugeesReportChina)'". USCRI News.
- ^ "China: Korean women forced into sex slavery" by Carol Anne Douglas. Washington Post, 3/3/2004
- ^ "Smuggling, Sex And Slavery [[Sky News]]". 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2008-11-17.
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External links
- Child exploitation not new to stricken region
- Illegal Prostitution Occurring in Massage Parlors and Bathhouses
