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Prostitution in South Korea

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Prostitution in South Korea is a big industry in the country. The Korean Institute of Criminology estimated that it comprises 4.1% of South Korea's GDP, just behind Agriculture, at 4.4% of GDP. The sex industry accounts for $20 billion a year, in revenue.[1] According to surveys by civic organizations, it is estimated that there are over 300,000 establishments in the sex industry, ranging in various forms, such as massage parlors, red light districts, karaoke rooms, tea houses, and others. Over 1.2 million women are believed to be working in the trade. [2]. The government stopped keeping official figures in 2004.

In December 2006, The Ministry for Gender Equality, in an attempt to address the issue of demand for prostitutes among, offered cash to companies whose male employees pledged not to pay for sex after office parties. The people responsible for this policy claimed that they want to put an end to a culture in which men get drunk at parties and go on to buy sex.[3]

Historical context

With the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, prostitution was made illegal by the governing United States authority, and the law was re-confirmed by the new South Korean parliament in 1948. Nevertheless, prostitution flourished in the next decades as the law was not treated seriously; it continued in much the same basic forms as it had before, though with US soldiers replacing Japanese as the foreign military customers.[citation needed] The Korean War saw the rise of prostitution centers in the Jongno-3-ga area, Mia-ri, and Cheongnyangni 588, which was the last stop for many Korean soldiers before the front lines.[citation needed]

The 1960s saw the effective institution of "camp towns" around the US bases, where brothels were allowed to operate unfettered[4]. Though prostitution continued to be technically illegal, it was in fact tolerated at all levels by authorities.

Human trafficking

See also: Human rights in South Korea

South Korea is both a source and destination country for human trafficking; mainly Russian and Southeast Asian women are brought into the country for prostitution, many of whom are tricked into thinking they will have a legitimate job[5]. Many of them serve the local US military population, though not all of them sleep with their clients[6]. Many female migrant workers who are recruited by Korean employment agencies to come to the country to work in factories, are often later deceived and forced into prostitution [7].

Though as recently as 2001 the government received low marks on the issue, in recent years the government has made significant strides in its enforcement efforts[8]. Human trafficking was outlawed and penalties for prostitution increased[9]; the 2004 Act on the Prevention of the Sex Trade and Protection of its Victims was passed, toughening penalties for traffickers, ending deportation of victims, and establishing a number of shelters for victims. As of 2005 there were 144 people serving jail time for human trafficking. US forces in Korea have cooperated with the government's initiative[10]. Though United States Forces Korea cooperates with Korean authorities, many accuse of it failing to do enough or even of shirking its duty.[11]

However, despite the efforts to crackdown on the industry and human trafficking, the sex trade in Korea evolves around the new laws that come in to place, with new variations, such as bangseokjips, where prostitutes rent apartments in residential areas, and their clients continue to visit for sexual services.These Korean women and new forms of prostitution also get exported to the US and other countries, contributing to the global human trafficking problem.[12][13]

Regarding the global human trafficking problem with Korean prostitutes, a US Immigation official conceded in 2006 that "There's a highly organized logistical network between Korea and the United States with recruiters, brokers, intermediaries, taxi drivers and madams".[14]

Modern Prostitution

Today, while a number of prostitutes do work in brothels that do little to conceal their activity, most are believed to work in much more sophisticated settings, where sex might take place only at the discretion of the woman herself. A "room salon" or a "hostess bar" is a venue where groups of businessmen, usually using the company credit card, can drink with young hostesses. No sex takes place on the premises but men sometimes negotiate a tryst elsewhere.[citation needed]

Barber's pole's are often used as an indicator that a building contains a brothel or a massage parlor which offers sexual services. Other means of advertising are more explicit, including cards and flyers distributed haphazardly on city sidewalks or placed on the windowshields of parked cars, with pictures of scantily clad women accompanied by directions, telephone numbers, and sometimes maps and accepted credit cards.[citation needed]

Massage parlors offering sexual services sometimes distinguish themselves from legitimate parlors by advertising with the word "anma" (안마), sometimes quite openly with large neon signs. Following the enactment of the Special Law in 2004, there was a crackdown on red-light districts; while many of the brothels in those areas were forced to close, the crackdown came as quickly as it went, with the result that prostitution was driven more underground but also became a more competitive business with lower prices and more services[15]. Well-known redlight districts full of "glass houses", where girls wait for customers in small rooms with curtains, still exist in Busan and Suwon.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Changing attitude toward sex threatens South Korea" Article from San Francisco Gate. Accessed on January 1, 2008
  2. ^ "SEX WORK IN SOUTH KOREA", Safoundation. Accessed on January 1, 2008
  3. ^ S Koreans offered cash for no sex, BBC News [1].
  4. ^ "Ladies of the 1950s Nights", Andrei Lankov, The Korea Times, January 2, 2006. Accessed May 9, 2006.
  5. ^ DONALD MACINTYRE/TONGDUCHON. "Base Instincts". TIME magazine. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ "Base Intentions: The US Military Whitewashes the Exploitation and Trafficking of Women in S. Korea". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Lee Hyang Won. "Reality of Women Migrant Workers in South Korea". 평화만들기. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Kang In-sun (15th). [? "South Korea Improves Human Trafficking Record"]. chosun.com. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  9. ^ David Scofield (25). "Korea's 'crackdown culture' - now it's brothels". Asia Times. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  10. ^ Stars and Stripes. "USFK committed to zero tolerance on prostitution crimes, LaPorte warns". TIME magazine. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |month= and |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ *Moon, Katharine H.S., "Sex Among Allies:Military Prostitution in U.S./Korea Relations" Columbia Press, 1997. Accessed on October 27, 2006 (PDF link)
  12. ^ [2], Marmot's Hole. Accessed January 1, 2008.
  13. ^ [3] Naver News. Accessed January 1, 2008.
  14. ^ [4] SEX TRAFFICKING
  15. ^ *"From mobile sex to group sex, Korean sex industry thrives despite—or because of—Special Law", The Marmot's Hole blog. Accessed on April 27, 2006.

News reports

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