Comfort woman before and after Japanese rule--Korea's sex indusrty

See alsoFriday, August 21, 2015 The Scars of War: Vietnam Comfort Women a short history of comfort women in Korean tradition
Modern-Day Comfort Women:
The U.S. Military, Transnational Crime,
and the Trafficking of Women
Donna M. Hughes, Katherine Y. Chon, and Derek P. Ellerman PDF

Japanese government faced the issue about comfort woman; South Korea might have her own problem as well.
There was a system of comort women before Japanese rule, there has been a systm of comort women in Korea after Japanese rule---under no influence of Japan.

Modern-Day Comfort Women: The U.S. Military, Transnational Crime, and the Trafficking of Women see also Korean comfort women during Korean war
sex among allies
US in Korea
Modern Korean Society
SEX TRAFFICKING / San Francisco Is A Major Center For International Crime Networks That Smuggle And Enslave / FIRST OF A FOUR PART SPECIAL REPORT
In South Korea the sex industry accounts for 4 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The South Korean government passed an anti-sex trafficking law in 2004 that for the first time made it illegal to buy or sell women. During their trip to South Korea, Chronicle reporter Meredith May and staff photographer Deanne Fitzmaurice found that while the public sex industry has slowed, parts of the business has gone underground and is still alive and well. Slideshow produced by Dan Jung. Chronicle photos by Deanne Fitzmaurice

Koreans like sex. In fact they love it. Consensual, under age, extra marital, kinky; you name it, they do it. But most of all Koreans like paid for sex. Korean men that is. They live for it. They spend millions on it every month. They have countless ways of getting their rocks off for cash. Juicy bars.

Barber shops. Turkish baths. Room salons. Hostess bars. Strip clubs. Massage parlours. Brothels. About 358,000 men buy sex each day. That's a lot of money. And a hell of a lot of sex. So why? Korea is not the first place you think of when the words ‘sex' and ‘Asia' are bandied around. Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Japan. These are all places that have a reputation for pay for play horizontal dancing. But Korea is better known for its cell phones and fermented cabbage.

However, the fact is that prostitution is everywhere in Korea. From the ubiquitous barber pole to the basement coffee shops, prostitution is a higher chunk of the GDP than agriculture. According to a report released by the Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC), the nation's sex trade was estimated at 24 trillion won (US$ 20.4 billion) last year, accounting for 4.1 percent of 578 trillion won, the total GDP.

Dancers in a Seoul Nightclub
Nearly 20 percent of men aged between 20 and 64 visit prostitutes on average 4.5 times every month, spending a sum that breaks down to 154,000 won (US$ 130) each time. The main reason for the predilection of sex for sale is as always, economics. The average female salary worker can expect to earn substantially less then their male equivalent. Handbags and nose jobs don't just pay for themselves.

This ‘invisible hand' as Adam Smith describes it can be considered one of the main reasons for the booming sex trade here. There is always going to be a demand everywhere in the world, but the supply here more than meets it. There is also a culture of acceptance.

Business dealings are often conducted in room salons, upscale drinking clubs where girls are on offer. The Korean need to feel comfortable socially with your business partners has had a knock on effect on the skin trade. Countless students, secretaries and housewives work as ‘entertainers' in these venues, singing, pouring drinks and sucking cock.

Miari. Northern Seoul. The banners were only up for a short time, but they illustrated the hypocrisy of the sex scene here. They banned foreigners from frequenting the warren like lanes that house the brothels in one of Seoul's biggest red light districts. The reasons? Ignorance, racism, but as always when sex is for sale, economics took precedence. Pimps feared that the influx of foreign men on a nightly basis was scaring off the Korean regulars, who were worried about contracting SARS or AIDS.

The Bangladeshi and Pakistani factory workers were bad for business and simply had to go. Miari and places like it are the real underbelly of the sex scene here. The girls are often underage and held against their will, forced to service grunting adjussis for 30 minutes at a time.

Conor Purcell The Seoul Times

Prostitution has been a component of Korean culture for literally thousands of years, and any attempt to eliminate this still viable cultural artifact will not succeed if it does not address the demand for sex services within South Korean society. A report issued by the Korean Institute of Criminology in 2003 indicates that 20% of men in their 20s pay for sex at least four times a month. Elected officials and private business people discuss and negotiate deals not only in boardrooms, but also in "business clubs" where whiskey and elaborate plates of overpriced fruit accompany a bevy of attractive young women, or girls - there to peel the grapes, pour the shots and perform sexual services for money.

These establishments are in every village and town and in virtually every neighborhood in every city in South Korea. The total employment and revenue generated is hard to pin down as, depending on the type of establishment, many women and girls work freelance, called in to entertain certain customers or help out when business is particularly brisk. The revenue generated is estimated to be more than US$21 billion a year, or more than 4% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Ministry of Gender Equality, which also says more than 500,000 women and girls are employed. These numbers are believed to be low, not reflecting the real scope of prostitution in South Korea.Sep 25, 2004Asia Times By David Scofield

(Note During Japanese rule,

Estimates of the number of comfort women range between 50,000 and 200,000. It is believed that most were Korean.C. Sarah Soh

Total figure 60.000～90.000(70%=Korean,30%=Japanese)Survived the war---more than 90 %Hata's summary)

In 1989, 23.3 percent of all South Korean women worked as prostitutes.In 1994, a staggering one-fifth of all females there aged 15 to 29 (1.6 million) worked as prostitutes. That's 2 out of every 10. Most weren't traditional prostitutes confined to red-light districts or plying the streets, but part of a booming and perfectly legal prostitution industry grafted on to the hotel, restaurant, entertainment/cultural and household services sectors. In other words: in South Korea, as long as the primary purpose of a business is providing food, drinks, entertainment, or even household cleaning, it can legally sell sex on the side. Sociologists there call this phenomenon, which began in the 1970's when the country's economic development took off, "industrial prostitution."By Huso YiOCTOBER 30, 2003.thegully.com

Sex trade reported at 4.1% of GDP
Korea's sex industry accounts for up to 4.1 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), with over 330,000 women engaged in prostitution, a report showed yesterday.

According to the report released by the Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC), the nation's sex trade was estimated at 24 trillion won ($20.4 billion) last year, accounting for 4.1 percent of 578 trillion won, the total GDP.

The amount far exceeds that of the electricity, gas and water supply industry, which accounts for 2.9 percent of the GDP, and lags slightly behind the agricultural industry's 4.4 percent.

There are no guaranteed statistics on the sex industry, however, as prostitution is outlawed in Korea.

But the KIC said it calculated the volume of industry based on its survey of 5,403 sites providing sex services, such as bars and massage parlors, in Seoul and six other cities between August and November last year.

The report estimated that up to 4.1 percent of Korean women in their 20s and 30s work in the business. This accounts for 8 percent of employed women in these age groups.

About 358,000 men buy sex each day. Nearly 20 percent of men aged between 20 and 64 visit prostitutes on average 4.5 times every month, spending a sum that breaks down to 154,000 won each time, according to the report.

The KIC said among the employers or brokers of prostitutes uncovered by police, an average of 76 percent were fined last year.

There has been a heated debate in Korea on whether to decriminalize prostitution. Proponents have claimed that legalization would make it easier for the authorities to supervise the sex industry and protect the rights and health of prostitutes, while opponents contended that the trade of women's bodies should not be encouraged at any costkalaniosullivan.com/KunsanAB

Hans Castorp from Great Britain (UK)
Posted December 4, 2006 at 8:59 am | Permalink

Actually a little digging on Wikipedia digs up this article, which gives a figure of either 1.5 million (according to an unnamed NGO) or 500,000 (according to the S. Korean government); take the average of the two figures and you have a nice round 1 million female sex workers, or about 4% of females of all ages in the country, and once you take population structure and age skew into account, a figure of 10-15% of all women aged 15 to 29 seems quite reasonable. That “only” 1 in 7 of all young Korean women should be whores doesn’t seem to be much of an argument for condemning Japan’s supposed moral laxity, however …
Hans Castorp from Great Britain (UK)
Posted December 4, 2006 at 9:01 am | Permalink

Sorry, here is the link to the Wikipedia article.Hans Castorp/Marmot

There is a place where "Korea" is a noun associated with prostitution. Kiribati is a small Pacific island nation that barely has 100,000 people, and Korean fishermen are paying girls around the age of 18 for sex. The girls are called "KoreKorea." Some of them have had children with Korean fishermen. This is about sexual exploitation of young women and a lack of responsibility towards the children that are born, and it is also causing social problems such as the spread of aids and the collapse of moral rules in that society. That is shameful, shameful indeed.The Hankyoreh, 9 July 2005

July 07, 2005 ㅡ The National Youth Commission charged yesterday that Korean fishermen are largely responsible for the existence of a teen prostitution industry in Kiribati, a small island nation in the South Pacific.
The commission said it conducted an investigation last month in Tarawa, Kiribati's capital, after the United Nations Children's Fund said that Koreans were sexually exploiting children in the South Pacificjoongangdaily.

Is there no remedy? The stark reality is that the government virtually gives tacit permission to the illegal business, although has recently cracked down on teenage prostitution, particularly via the Internet, by punishing the buyers strictly, even making public their names on the Internet and bulletin boards of related agencies.

This means that the Anti-Prostitution Law is a mere scrap of paper and law enforcement authorities are violating the law themselves, while emphasizing a law-abiding spirit for the peopleKorea Times on 11 Feb 2003:

(UPDATE see also Korean sex industry thrives despite—or because of—Special Law )

Before Japanese rule

As a vassal state of the Yuan Dynasty after the Koryo Kingdom surrendered to the Mongols in 1257, hundreds of women were demanded to serve the sexual needs of envoys. Girls aged 13 to 16 were forbidden from marrying so that a different girl could be found to attend them almost every night.
times.hankooki.com

Kisaeng (also spelled gisaeng) were female Korean entertainers similar to the Japanese geisha and the ancient Greek hetaerae. The term literally means "prostitute," although some kisaeng were not prostitutes.

First appearing in the Goryeo Dynasty, kisaeng were legally slaves of the government,wiki/Kisaeng

The only women being able to conduct any independent activity outside being the members of the lowest strata of the society (shamans and female entertainers – kisaeng), female independence and activity were usually looked down upon as the symbols of base status and economical insecurity.
uioeastasia2002

Vewed synchronically, there were 20 thousands kisaeng and it was 0.5% of the whole population. And The fact is that there were only few who could sing and dance. Those talented kiseng were really chosen elite who who appeared in historical documents and records. It it only throgh this, we formed the image of Kisaen as a talented dancer, writer, painter as we we imagine now.

沿疑錐税 尻姥拭 税馬檎 洛秡釟生稽 瑳 凶 霹獰秡營 鈿椀拭 鉦 2幻誤 舛亀税 偈匈亜 糎仙梅揮 依生稽 蓄舛鞠澗汽 戚依精 穿端昔姥税 鉦 0.5%拭 背雁馬澗 依戚陥. 戚掻拭辞 賺舉引 憤搗研 謂搾廃 偈匈澗 益軒 弦精 収切亜 焼艦陥. 絲淅蟹 兩巵拭 蟹展蟹澗 偈匈澗 働呪廃 採嫌拭 紗馬澗 益醤源稽 識澱閤精 糎仙虞壱 拝 呪 赤陥. 益君蟹 酔軒澗 '偈匈'馬檎 戚坦軍 識澱閤精 護護幻聖 彊臣軒壱, 益依幻聖 舛莫鉢馬食 閤焼級心奄 凶庚拭 匈弋撼劦税 幽祚躡戚暗蟹 攜拮人 禽嬢貝 憤搗, 淪嘲檢研 管亜馬澗 越 蛇松人 益顕 蛇松, 瑪拭 淫廃 切政稽崇, 紫帖廃 持醗 去生稽 偈匈虞澗 戚耕走研 莫雌鉢馬心陥

sungshin.ac.kr

[1]

The institution of kisaeng or kinyô was firmly established in Korean society by Koryô dynasty (918-1392) and continued throughout Chosôn dynasty (1392-1910).(12) Kisaeng were chosen from among young females of the lower classes and trained in the arts of entertainment for men, such as playing musical instruments, singing and dance. By the time of King Sejong (r. 1418-50), prostitution came to dominate the life of kisaeng. There were several proposals to abolish the institution of kisaeng by high-level Confucian scholar-officials. However, the opponents to the proposal successfully defended the institution by arguing among other things the likelihood of increased sex crimes if it were to be abolished.(13)link

the dawn of modern Korea
Sexual Positions from the Chosun Dynasty/occidentalism

After Japanese rule

Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S./Korea Relations, by Katharine H.S. Moon
American Town is like many of the other numerous camptowns near or adjoined to major U.S. military camps in South Korea

There are two types of kijich'on prostitutes, the registered and the unregistered, or so-called streetwalkers.

In order to work in the clubs, a woman must go to the local police station to register her name and address and the name of the club where she will be working. She must also go to the local VD clinic, undergo gynecological and blood examinations and receive a VD card. To maintain her status as a"healthy" hostess, she must go once a week for VD examination and get her card stamped"healthy" by the clinic;"healthy" means she is free of VD infection

Once in the club, the woman's life revolves around the schedule of the local GIs and the business demands of the club owner or manager, who serves as her pimp.

Selling drinks, however, has never been the mainstay of the women's earnings: Women are expected to sleep with GIs for the bulk of their income

Most women do not come into the clubs equipped with"hostessing skills" and the willingness to share flesh with GIs. For women who are new to the club scene, an initiation process often takes place. Some women attest to having been raped by their pimp/manager; others have been ordered by the club owner to sleep with a particular soldier; yet others stumble into bed with GIs on their own; some receive advice on the type of man to avoid (e.g., violent types) from more experienced prostitutes
ciaonet.org

It was during this timeframe in 1946 that the first "camptown" was established outside "ASCOM city" in Pupyong (Seoul). This "camptown" remained in place until the Korean War as the Military Advisory Group remained stationed there after the US Occupation forces were removed in 1949. As for Kunsan, the unit packed up for departure on March 1948 and turned the base, Camp Hillenmeyer, over to the Korean constabulary, the forerunner to the ROK Armykalaniosullivan.com

An excellent description of the background and development of A-town can be found at Out of the Shadows: Camptown Women, Military Brides and Korean (American) Communities. This treatise by Yuh Ji-yeon covers the camps, prostitutes as well as black market and women who marry GIs. It also states the "special entertainment zones" were set up by the South Korean government that coincide to the camptowns. According to the treatise,

"American Town is a camptown developed with the collusion of both the Korean and American governments. Built by a South Korean general and landowner in 1969 during the height of the Park Chung Hee regime, American Town turned farm fields in North Cholla Province into a sanctioned red-light district for soldiers. Distinctly marked off from the nearby civilian town of Kunsan and the surrounding countryside by chainlink fences, American Town was at first wholly owned by the two developers, but later became a corporation with shareholders. During the 1970s business was so good that the clubs opened even during the day and a fleet of buses ferried soldiers between Kunsan Air Force Base and the town. Today two buses operate between the town and the base. The town includes dormitory-like housing for the women, about 20 clubs, a dozen stores and a government-run health clinic where women receive mandatory testing for sexually transmitted diseases. (My Sister's Place, 33-34)

For the South Korean government, these camptowns and the regulation of camptown women have been crucial to maintaining smooth relations with the U.S. government. Katherine Moon points out that making sure that the camptown women played their proper role as entertainers and sexual playmates would foster goodwill among American soldiers was essential for the South Korean government. Thus the South Korean government embarked on an official program during the 1970s that praised the women for earning foreign exchange and boosting the economy, and contributing to the national defense by serving as personal ambassadors to U.S. troops. ..."

kalaniosullivan.com

Plan to demolish famous 'kisaeng' house sparks controversy over Seoul's cultural asset policy
Opened in 1972, Samchonggak reached its peak of popularity under the military regime of former President Park Chung Hee.

Many government officials and politicians frequented Samchonggak, giving rise to new terms like "backdoor politics" and "Yojong (kisaeng house) politics" that are considered symbolic of the Korean political climate in the 1970s. In next decade, when the nation's export drive got into full swing, many conglomerate executives entertained foreign clients at Samchonggak02/17/2000 Digital Korea Herald

In the 1970s and '80s, the Korean Special Tourism Assn. enjoyed favorable treatment by the South Korean government. The South Korean government tacitly supported prostitution near the U.S. bases as a way of solidifying the military alliance and of bringing in scarce hard currency. The tourism association also enjoyed the privilege of selling tax-free liquor to Americans and other foreigners in its bars.

in the 1970s the Korean government was also engaged in the surveillance and authoritarian control of the prostitutes servicing the US military. At the request of the latter that complained of the unhealthy conditions of the kijich'on sex industry, the Korean government started a clean-up campaign in 1971 that included infrastructural improvements and enforcement of regular medical examinations of prostitutes, detaining infected women at special centers.link

Are the bar girls contracts fair and legal? YES AND NO!!!

The contracts are legal and binding under Korean law. This has been established in the courts. However, the problems comes in the enforcement of the terms of the contract. In this there are two things to be considered. One, the contractor who made the contract and the employee who signs the contract.

As to the contractors, it has been established that most contractors have falsely represented the amount of money that was to be made under the contract. We don't know about the Russian contracts, but the Filipina contracts state the women will NOT drink with the customers and will NOT engage in prostitution. It has also been established that these terms are violated starting from the first day the bar girl reports to work. The contractor remains outside this dispute as a "local agent" handles the contract once in Korea. If the individual chooses to enter into prostitution, the clause stating where the bar girl would NOT engage in prostitution makes her the target of deportation -- while the contractor is free from liability.kalaniosullivan.com

people coerced into prostitution was apparently not uncommon up until the 1980s. The movie ‘Chang’ starring the main actress in “My Wife is a Gangster” depicted this kind of thing. It’s worth seeing.kushibo in Asia Pages
Forced prostitution in South Korea takes place largely through employment agencies and loan sharks.

The employment agencies usually lure young women into working at room salons and coffee shops (in Korean, ‘dabang’). The women agree to the job, after having been told the work will require simply pouring drinks or delivering coffee to offices. While the women think they’re simply being hired, the employment agencies are selling them to the room salons and ‘dabang’ for sums well over $10,000 a head.

As for loan sharks, women who fail to pay off debts in the required amount of time (usually quite short) are sold off to the likes of room salons and ‘dabang.’

After the women are sold off, the women are told to give up their bodies in order to start “paying back” their employers. The women basically have to earn how much they were initially worth (usually over $10,000). However, the trick is that the owners also charge exorbitant interest rates as weeks or months go by, while any action that ticks off the owner results in large fines. These fines increase the amount the women are expected to “pay back.” In addition, the women also have to pay rent, food, and anything else they use in the pseudo-brothel.

Of course, it isn’t South Korean law that governs these women’s contracts, but the prospect of getting beaten up or sold off to another similar business or, if unlucky, to a brothel where the women will have to perform greater amount of “services.”

Basically, once women put their foot in, there are many countermeasures to prevent them from leaving. In addition, women who have escaped the trafficking rings have said police are of no help, because they’re also customers.

As Kushibo mentioned, forced prostitution was quite rampant during the 1980's. In those days, women walking down the street were literally pushed into mini-vans and taken away.
update April 30/ Mingi in Asia Pages

And, in the early 80’s when I first got to Korea, about half the girls in the clubs were sold by their loving parents into servitude so mom and dad could live well. The girls were stuck in the clubs/on their backs until the agreed amount was paid off.ShiGye at marmot

I dated a girl (KYOUNG)at camp humphreys for over a year. She told me she owed the club (EAGLES CLUB) 20 thousand dollars. But that was later, first she told me 10 thousand would free her from this club……..I gave her 10 thousand over a one year period, met her mom and son who live in Incheon….offered to marry her…… then all of a sudden it was 20 she owed…….dave at marmot

We feel that these VD checks have been effective. Within the redlight district area are low-cost medical facilities (government subsidized) geared to the needs of the prostitutes in the area

conducting these tests of the women to counter the spread of VD amongst the GIs.

In the early days of the US military presence in Korea after the Korean War, VD was rampant amongst the GI population. Infection rates of some units were as high as 25 percent. It was simply out of control. In fact, the issue was so important that entries of VD rates constantly appeared in the 8th US Army Chronology in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1970s in A-town the checks were conducted in the government health clinic set up outside the gates. At that time, the clinic served not only A-town, but also the entire farm community in the area. The choice of the location was undoubtedly because of the A-town location, but the clinic is technically outside the area of A-town in Mimiyon. The VD checks in the old days of the 1970s used to result in the bar girls wearing color-coded tags. If the tag was red, stay away. Other tags were color coded to show which girls were free of venereal disease on their last check. Checks were monthly -- with those bar girls identified as "burning" a soldier being called in for shots out of cycle. EVERY FEMALE who worked in the A-town clubs -- bar owner wives, waitresses, old adjumas, and bar girls -- had to submit to a monthly VD check. The checks were part of the deal for employment in A-town. Since the 1980s, the tags have disappeared and now the "VD books" are held behind the bar for periodic spot checks by base personnel. The health exams, which foreign entertainers must complete every three months, include a biannual AIDS test. Tests for other sexually transmitted diseases are optional -- unless identified by a soldier as the person who "burned" him.kalaniosullivan

See also http://www.stripesonline.com/article.asp?section=104&article=24839&archive=true

A group of Republic of Korea scientists Thursday wrapped up a study of the war in central Vietnam with focus on the issue of Vietnamese women being forced into sex slavery by Korean troops.

In the past few days, the mission met, interviewed, and collected documents in Phu Yen province from many women who were sexually molested or raped by Korean soldiers.Thamhmien News com. Source: Tuoi Tre – Translated by Thu Thuy

Human traficking

South Korea is primarily a country of destination, but it is also a country of origin and transit for trafficking in women and children.link

There are 18,000 registered and 9,000 unregistered prostitutes in Korea, but the focus in the international community always seems to blame the military as the "end-users" of the prostitutes -- thus denying that there is a KOREAN problem

According to Nation by Nation: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2002 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 31, 2003 under paragraph 6(f): trafficking of persons, it details some of the problems associated with this area in Korea.

f. Trafficking in Persons There is no single law that specifically prohibits trafficking in persons; however, various laws can be used to prosecute traffickers, including laws against kidnaping, inducement to prostitution, and laws protecting juveniles. These laws stipulate that proper security measures as well as financial assistance must be provided to trafficked victims when they report a trafficking crime. The Labor Standards Law prohibits the employment of any person under 18 years of age in work that "is detrimental to morality or health." The Juvenile Sexual Protection Act, which took effect in July 2000, imposes lengthy prison terms for persons convicted of sexual crimes against minors (see Section 5).

Trafficking was a problem. The Republic of Korea was a country of origin, transit, and destination for trafficking in persons. Young female Koreans were trafficked primarily for sexual exploitation, mainly to the United States, but also to other Western countries and Japan. Female aliens from many countries, primarily Chinese women, were trafficked through Korea to the United States and many other parts of the world. In addition to trafficking by air, much transit traffic occurred in the country's territorial waterways by ship. Women from the Philippines and Russia were trafficked to the country for sexual exploitation. They were recruited personally or answered advertisements, and were flown to Korea, often with entertainer visas. In some cases, victims' passports were held by their employers.

The country was considered a major transit point for alien smugglers, including traffickers of primarily Asian women and children for the sex trade and domestic servitudnationbynation.com

kalaniosullivan.co

See also comfort women in Korea now

Both women are Korean, but are legal U.S. residents, Caldwell said. Yu moved into the spa at the beginning of the month when she arrived from BostonGates was arrested and charged for keeping a place of prostitution and Yu was arrested in connection with engaging in the act of prostitutionDecember 17, 2005Joanna Larez

July 14, 2005
24 INDICTED IN KOREAN HUMAN SMUGGLING SCHEME THAT BROUGHT PROSTITUTES INTO THE UNITED STATES
Brothel owners face expanded charges for financial violations, including money launderingU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

Cops Shatter Korean Human Smuggling Ring
August 31, 2005 05:05 AM ESTby Jim Kouri, CPP

US Court Sentences Trafficker to 40 Years in Jail1

A US court has jailed the Korean owner of a sweat shop factory to 40 years in jail in the biggest punishment ever imposed in a human trafficking case. February 2006

In October, the Philippine government filed a lawsuit against a South Korean brothel owner for forcing 11 Filipino women into prostitution. The women had entered the country on visas authorizing them to work in the arts and show business. December 9, 2002

Cops Shatter Korean Human Smuggling Ring
August 31, 2005 05:05 AM EST

by Jim Kouri, CPPtheconservativevoice>

A US court has jailed the Korean owner of a sweat shop factory to 40 years in jail in the biggest punishment ever imposed in a human trafficking case. human traffickin2005_06g

3 arrested in Warsaw prostitution casesA 42-year-old Korean national was arrested at the VIP, Office Spa, on a charge of prostitution, a Class A misdemeanor, for agreeing with an undercover police officer to perform sex acts in exchange for money.February 18. 2006 6:59AM the South Bend Tribune

Against Their Will

The U.S. government estimates that each year as many as 800,000 people around the world are enslaved as laborers or sex workers・・・・・"These women were my age," says Chon, who was born in South Korea

January/February 200

Each year, thousands of people are brought into the United States by human traffickers who trap illegal immigrants in what some call “modern day slavery.”・・・・In this case, smugglers brought the women to North Texas from South Korea.march 2006 CBS

Kirby said on one occasion last year 100 Korean women were arrested on prostitution charges in a single day in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Korean women were also held in Connecticut, New York and Huston this year, he said, with Korean women forming a bigger part of the prostitution problem in the U.S, than those of any other nationality during the last one to two years. Jun.8,2006 Chosun liebo

According to court documents, Yong Jun Kang, 36, of Seattle, operated brothels in Portland, Ore., and Seattle, where he and others would bring Asian women, most of whom were in the United States illegally.

Authorities allege that Kang told confidential informants that women were being smuggled into the U.S. in shipping containers after paying as much as $50,000. Some of the women, investigators said, were brought into the United States by crossing the Canadian border.August 11, 2006(this is a case by Korean American

see also

By Michelle Nichols

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A sex trafficking ring that smuggled Korean women into the United States to work in brothels has been cracked and 31 people arrested, officials said on Wednesday.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement said 70 women were in custody for questioning to see if they were victims of the ring that trafficked prostitutes between brothels in cities including New York, Washington and Philadelphia.

Prosecutors said recruiters identified Korean women who wanted to work in the United States. Some were given false immigration documents while others were smuggled into the United States through Canada or Mexico.


"By the time the women have been taken into the United States, the women owe the recruiters and other members of the criminal organization a large debt, usually in the tens of thousands of dollars," immigration authorities said in a criminal complaint.

The women were then made to work as prostitutes to pay off their debts and traded between various brothels. The brothel owners and managers kept a large portion of the money paid by customers and credited the rest against the debts.

"The women are in some instances told or led to believe that, if they leave the prostitution business before paying off their debts, they will suffer a range of harms," the complaint said. "The women are sometimes threatened with harm to their families in Korea.Wed Aug 16, 2006reuter

High-rise hookers


15Feb07

Sex-slave ring: Brothel just part of trade
Officials say local madam was part of East Coast network
By TED CZECH
Daily Record/Sunday News
Article Launched: 04/29/2007 12:46:59 AM EDT

chosun.com/Jun.8,2006 21

So there was comfort stations established by Korean government before Japanese rule.
There was comfort stations established by Korean government during Korean War.
There have been comfort stations which Korean government are strongly involved with after Japanese rule.


By Sam Kim
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Yonhap) -- Despite the adoption of a toughened anti-prostitution law in 2004, the number of people buying or selling sex in South Korea has not decreased, police said Monday2006/08/07

Angry prostitutes and brothel owners staged another demonstration in Seoul yesterday, the largest of its kind since a new anti-prostitution law went into effect last month.joongangdaily2004.10.07

Korean Prostitutes Threaten Visa Waiver


The U.S. Consul General to Seoul says Korean prostitutes who stay illegally in the U.S. are a major psychological barrier to a visa waiver for Korean visitors there. Chosun Ilbo Jun.8,2006
Jun.5,2007 09:50 KST




Middle School Girl Forced Into Prostitution


Police have arrested three suspects on charges of detaining a middle school girl and forcing her into prostitution with 800 men including a college professor and a doctor. According to police, the suspects held Jeon, a 14-year-old middle school student, against her will in motels in Gwangju, South Jeolla province and forced her to prostitute herself. The suspects are charged with beating Jeon, who pleaded with them to let her go, once every two or three days and burning her hands with cigarettes.

U.S. faults trafficking of women by Korea

June 14, 2007
More South Korean men have been going to other countries to have sex with children, according to the latest U.S. State Department report.
Korea has also continued to send women overseas to work as prostitutes, while bringing women here for the same purpose, the report said. It also criticized Korea for brokered marriages with women in other countries.
The annual report, released Tuesday in Washington, criticizes countries other than the United States.
Although Korea was ranked in the top tier overall for a lower level of trafficking, “South Korean men are a significant source of demand for child sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands,” the report said, citing growing concerns that Korean men are traveling to China, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian destinations to engage in sex with children.


I guess South Korean government has a lot of aplogies and conpensations to do.
I say,
Prositiutes of South Korea, Unite!!!
Korean sex trade 'victims' strike for rights
By Sealing Cheng

Notes
[1]This is my poor translation. If somebody give me a better one, I'd be happy to rewrite it.


http://www.sungshin.ac.kr/~kowoin/e_3g.htm
朝鮮時代妓女の社会的存在様態とセックシュオルリティ研究

圏泰年間
(聖信女子大学校大学院 ,2000年 2月卒業)


조선시대 기녀의 사회적 존재양태와 섹슈얼리티 연구
朝鮮時代妓女の社会的存在様態とセックシュオルリティ研究

권 태 연
圏泰年間
(성신여대 대학원 , 2000년 2월 졸업)
(聖信女子大学校大学院 ,2000年 2月卒業)






본 논문은 朝鮮時代 여성 중에서 특수계층으로 인식되는 妓女(혹은 妓生)들의 發生原因과 妓女身分의 獲得科程, 社會的인 機能 그리고 그들의 섹슈얼리티에 관한 연구논문이다.
本の論文は 朝鮮時代 女性の中で特殊階層に 認識される 妓女(あるいは 妓生)たちの 発生原因と 妓女身分の 獲得科程, 社会的である 機能 そして彼らのセックシュオルリティに関する研究論文だ.
朝鮮時代는 兩班, 中人, 常民, 賤民이 엄격하게 구별되는 신분제 사회였으며, 극도로 강력한 家父長的인 통치체제 아래에서 남, 여가 구별되는 男女有別의 사회이다.
朝鮮時代は 両班,中人,常民,賎民が厳格に区別される 身分制社会だったし,極度に力強い 家父長的である統治体制の下で 男,余暇区別される 男女有別の社会だ.
階級的 不平等이 존재하는 사회에서 여성의 사회적인 위치는 여성 개인 또는 그녀의 가족이 속해있는 계급의 사회적 위치를 종속된다. 또한 家父長的 사회에서 여성은 그들의 階級的 위치를 불문하고 性的인 억압과 차별을 당하고 있다. 이렇듯 모든 여성은 支配階層에 속하건 被支配階層에 속하건 사회적으로 억압받는 위치에 놓여 있다. 특히 피지배계층의 여성들은 이중의 억압을 받는 삶을 살아야 했다. 그중 기녀는 신분적으로 볼 때 賤民이었고, 성적으로는 여성이었으며 직업의 특수성(여성성을 과다하게 노출하는 직업) 때문에 더욱 많은 억압을 받게 되는 것이다.
階級的 不平等が 存在する社会で女性の社会的な位置は女性個人または彼女の 家族が属している階級の社会的位置を属する.また 家父長的 社会で女性は彼らの 階級的 位置を問わず 性的である抑圧と 差別にあっている.このようにすべての女性は 支配階層に属しようが 被支配階層に 属しようが社会的に抑圧される位置に置かれている.特に被支配階層の 女性たちはこの中の抑圧を受ける生を暮さなければならなかった.なかでも妓女は身分的に ボールの時の 賎民だったし,成績には女性だったし職業の特殊性(女性性を 過多に露出する職業) のためもっと多い抑圧を受けるようになるのだ.
김동욱의 연구에 의하면 共時的으로 볼 때 朝鮮時代 全國에 약 2만명 정도의 妓女가 존재했던 것으로 추정되는데 이것은 전체인구의 약 0.5%에 해당하는 것이다. 이중에서 人物과 歌舞를 겸비한 妓女는 그리 많은 숫자가 아니다. 野史나 記錄에 나타나는 妓女는 특수한 부류에 속하는 그야말로 선택받은 존재라고 할 수 있다. 그러나 우리는 '妓女'하면 이처럼 선택받은 몇몇만을 떠올리고, 그것만을 정형화하여 받아들였기 때문에 女流文學의 繼承者이거나 美貌와 뛰어난 歌舞, 士大夫를 능가하는 글 솜씨와 그림 솜씨, 性에 관한 자유로움, 사치한 생활 등으로 妓女라는 이미지를 형상화하였다 .
キム・ドンウクの研究によれば 共時的に見る時 朝鮮時代 全国に 約 2万名位の 妓女が存在したことに推定されるのにこれは全体人口の 約 0.5%にあたるのだ.この中で 人物と 歌舞を兼備した 妓女は あまり多い数字ではない.野史や 記録に現われる 妓女は特殊な部類に属するまさに選択受けた存在とする数 ある.しかし私たちは '妓女'すればこのように選択受けた何人のみを思い浮かんで, それのみを整形化して受け入れたから 女流文学の 継承者や 美貌とすぐれた 歌舞,士大夫をしのぐ文腕前と絵腕前,性に 関するフリー,贅沢な生活などで 妓女というイメージを形象化した .
본 논문에서는 지금까지 우리가 가지고 있던 妓女의 긍정적인 이미지에서 탈피하여, 士大夫의 로서 혹은 사회의 안전 으로서 기능했던 妓女의 섹슈얼리티를 연구 범위에 포함시켰다.
本の論文では今まで私たちが持っていた 妓女の 肯定的なイメージで脱皮して,士大夫のとしてあるいは社会の 安全として機能した 妓女のセックシュオルリティを研究範囲に含ませた.


본 논문은
本 論文は

주로 文獻硏究를 중심으로 이루어졌다. 歷史硏究의 경우 文獻紫蓼는 매우 중요한데, 여성사연구의 경우 文獻資料의 부족을 큰 문제점으로 들 수 있다. 대부분의 歷史書가 지배계급 남성 중심으로 記錄되어 있고, 여성에 관한 기록이 전해진다고 하더라도 일부 지배계급의 여성으로 한정되어 있고, 여성에 관한 기록이 전해진다고 하더라도 일부 지배계급의 여성으로 한정되어 있고, 그나마 남성들의 기준에 맞추어진 전형적인 인물이거나, 특수한 직종에 종사했던 여성의 경우(예를 들자면 妓女, 醫女, 官人등)이고, 정치적인 사건에 연루된 일부 지배계층의 여성들만이 역사에 등장하고 있다. 妓女의 경우는 그들이 특수한 계층의 여성이었기 때문에 『朝鮮王朝實錄』『經國大典』외 여러 법조문과 『靑 野談 』『於千野 談』『東野 』등과 같은 說話集 혹은 士大夫들의 개인문집에 그 기록이 전해지고 있다. 비록 妓女에 관한 문헌자료가 다른 여성들에 비해서는 다양하게 존재하고 있지만 거의 대부분이 남성 士大夫들의 입장에서 서술한 것이기 때문에 지극히 남성적인 입장을 취하고 있다.
主に 文献研究を 中心に成り立った.歴史研究の場合 文献紫蓼は非常に重要だが, 女性史研究の場合 文献資料の不足を大きい問題点に入る数 ある.大部分の 歴史書が支配階級男性中心に 記録になっていて, 女性に関する記録が伝わると言っても一部支配階級の女性で 限定されていて,女性に関する記録が伝わると言っても一部支配階級の 女性に限定されていて,それさえも男性たちの基準に合わせられた典型的な 人物や,特殊な職種に携わった女性の場合(例えば 妓女, 医女,官人など)で,政治的な事件に掛かり合った一部支配階層の女性たちだけが 歴史に登場している.妓女の場合は彼らが特殊な階層の女性だった だから 『朝鮮王朝実録』『経国大典』外多くの法曹文科 『青 野談 』『於千野 談』『東野 』などのような 説話集 あるいは 士大夫らの 個人文集にその記録が伝わっている.たとえ 妓女に関する文献資料が 他の女性たちに比べては多様に存在しているがほとんど大部分が 男性 士大夫らの立場(入場)で敍述したことだから極めて男性的な 立場(入場)を取っている.
본 논문에서는 朝鮮時代의 儒敎的 女性觀의 확립과정과 家父長的 성문화에 대해 간략하게 살펴보고 이러한 배경에서 자연스럽게 그 심분층을 형성한 妓女의 발생 연원과 妓女신분의 획득과정, 妓女의 사회적인 기능과 역할, 특히 賣 女로서 妓女의 기능에 대해 중점적으로 살펴보고자 한다. 또한 妓女들이 스스로의 삶에서 소외현상을 경험하고 자신의 섹슈얼리티를 어떠한 방식으로 형성하는지에 관하여 살펴보았다. 본 논문은 지금까지 선행되어진 妓女 연구에서는 다루어지지 않았던 妓女들의 섹슈얼리티를 연구범위에 포함시켰다는 것에 의의를 두고자 한다.
本の論文では 朝鮮時代の 儒教的 女性観の 確立過程と 家父長的 成文化に対して手短によく見てこのような背景で 自然にそのシムブンツングを形成した 妓女の発生淵源と 妓女身分の 獲得過程,妓女の社会的な機能と役目,特に 売 女として 妓女の機能に対して重点的によく見ようとする.また 妓女入り 自らの生で疏外現象を経験して自分のセックシュオルリティをいかなる 方式で形成するかに関してよく見た.本の論文は今まで 先行されられた 妓女 研究では扱われなかった 妓女らのセックシュオルリティを 研究範囲に含ませたということに意義を置こうとする



[2}It is confirmed by a Korean professor. see

朝鮮戦争時の韓国軍にも慰安婦制度　韓国の研究者発表
朝鮮戦争時の韓国軍にも慰安婦制度があったことが２３日、立命館大学（京都市北区）で開かれている「東アジアの平和と人権」国際シンポジウム日本大会（朝日新聞社後援）で明らかにされた。

韓国軍慰安婦について日本で公になったのは初めて。発表した韓国・慶南大客員教授の金貴玉（キム・ギオク）さん（４０）＝社会学＝は「日本軍の慰安婦制度をまねたものではないか」とみている。

　金さんは９６年、離散家族のインタビューの中で、「５０年１０月、韓国軍の捕虜になり、軍慰安隊の女性と出会った」という男性の証言を得た。以後５年間インタビューを重ね、「直接慰安所を利用した」「軍に拉致されて慰安婦にされかかった」という男女８人の証言を聞いた。

　さらに金さんは、韓国の陸軍本部が５６年に編さんした公文書『後方戦史（人事編）』に「固定式慰安所－特殊慰安隊」の記述を見つけた。設置目的として「異性に対するあこがれから引き起こされる生理作用による性格の変化等により、抑うつ症及びその他支障を来す事を予防するため」とあり、４カ所、８９人の慰安婦が５２年だけで２０万４５６０回の慰安を行った、と記す特殊慰安隊実績統計表が付されている。

　証言と併せ、軍隊が直接経営していた慰安所があった、と金さんは結論づけた。

　軍関係者の証言の中には、軍の補給品は第１から第４までしかないのに、「第５種補給品」の受領指令があり、一個中隊に「昼間８時間の制限で６人の慰安婦があてがわれた」とする内容のものもある。

　どんな人が慰安婦になったかは明らかではないが、朝鮮戦争時に娼婦（しょうふ）が急増し、３０万人にも及んだことから、金さんは「戦時の強姦（ごうかん）や夫の戦死がきっかけで慰安婦になった民間人も少なくない」と見ている。

　金さんは「設置主体だった陸軍の幹部の多くは日本軍の経験者だった。韓国軍の慰安婦が名乗り出るためには、日本軍慰安婦問題の解決が欠かせない。韓国政府と、当時軍統帥権を握っていた米国の責任も追及したい」と話している。

link

The tabangs I’ve visited in Seoul most certainly were not like that. I am almost positive. However, I’m curious if the ones in my neighborhood are. Or if they are what the ex-boyfriend told me once—simply places for the old folks to hang out in.
Comments»
1. Brendon Carr - August 20, 2006

The laws on virtually all Korean service businesses which would be termed “common houses” in the West are written with the basic assumption that the predominately-female service employees would be engaged in sexual services. My impression from readings in the English language about American and European history is that this was very common in our societies as well. So it seems to be that where the society is poorer, women looked to pick up a little extra cash where and as they could — since any woman who had to work could be expected not to be of the upper class.

Korea’s not poor any more. Waitresses don’t have to blow customers for tips any more either. And so the coffee houses have gone legit.
2. Jeff in Korea - August 20, 2006

Come on Brendon… let’s not imply that ALL coffee houses have gone legit. A great many of them, particularly in the villages and older parts of town are still very much involved in the sex busines.
3. Joseph Steinberg - August 20, 2006

Back in 97-9, when I haunted the clubs and coffeehouses around Camp Humphreys, girls in coffee houses were little “juicies”. Instead of the big cuts, the juicy girls in nighttime clubs, got the coffee house girls got smaller cuts for a cup of coffee and conversation. Many of the girls told me about their runs to patrons’ houses. A few were “legit”, just coffee house girls and no prostitution. There was also a coffee house near the train station in Gyengju where the girls were prostitutes. I ran into one coming out of a room in my hotel after a noisy “lunch”, and then I ran into her again at the coffee shop as she quickly threw down my coffee. When she realized I was not in the paying mood, she walked away and was soon out the door. She came back 45 minutes later.

My wife never liked the places. That’s one reason McDonald’s are so popular. No booze, no old men, no stigma.
4. Brendon Carr - August 20, 2006

Uhh… Since 1990 I’ve been in and around Korea, in the provinces and in Seoul. I’ve actually never encountered an illegitimate coffee house. And not for lack of trying! Just lack of availability — or, dumbness, it seems. Maybe I am walking around insensate.
5. Joseph Steinberg - August 20, 2006

No bad there, Mr. Carr.

Some of us grow to see over the curb, but we never leave the sewer behind us. better a sinner than a shiny bourgeois! There are legit places, like Jodi alludes to up top,
6. Colin - August 20, 2006

This topic was covered in the Ulsan Pear (a waegook newspaper) last year. You may find the article interesting. It’s an interview with a ‘coffee girl’ who works in a dabang and delivers coffee… and maybe more.

Sorry, there’s no URL for the article. You’ll have to open the archived pdf for that issue. The article is on page 4. “Cream, two sugars and a BJ”.

http://www.ulsanpear.biz/2005-02.pdf
7. g^2 - August 21, 2006

I lived in Korea until ‘79, and there indeed was a stigma attached to “coffee houses” in those days. Not all of them were of ill-repute, but young women and girls were always told to never work in such places because girls from “good families” just don’t. And that even good girls may be mistaken for a prostitute.

I had not heard of barbershops offering such services back then, though. LOL, changing times I suppose.
8. Richard - August 21, 2006

My recollection of the tabangs in the 70’s was somewhat more benign. I NEVER heard about sex on the premises but when coffee(?) was ordered for a”home” delivery arrangemnets could be made for sexual favors.
In those days one could spend hours, and we did, talking with friends etc…It was quite a genial atmosphere.
9. Horace Jeffery Hodges - August 21, 2006

My wife’s cousin in Daegu pointed to a woman with a coffee tray entering a building and said, “I know what she does.”

I looked at her, then at him and asked, “What?’

“She’s a dabang girl,” he said. Then, he explained about the prostitution.

That was back in 1995, and I’ve occasionally glimpsed similar ‘girls’ around Korea … and I don’t even get out much.

Jeffery Hodges
10. Joe - August 22, 2006

I’m starting to feel self conscious about being too graphic in my comments, so I keep it to the briefest details.

I know for a fact that there were at least some tea/coffee houses where you could pay for one or more of the service hostesses to leave with you for the night. The places where this occurred were not somewhere that foreigners would have come across on their own. Korean was the only language spoken and there was a sort of socializing ritual that had to be followed.

A foreigner would only experience it if they were invited and accompanied by a native Korean. My friend took me to a place on several occasions before I caught on to what was going on. Apparently he was a regular because everyone welcomed him by name and was very hospitable to his foreign guest. This was a modest place in Cheonan in 1980. There was one other set of customers, and besides the adjuma and ajoshi, there were about 5 or 6 twentyish-something hostess. My friend translated some of what was said, but there were periods when the girls got all giggly and he didn’t translate. I thought it was playful teasing but then he asks me which one I like. Pick one. He indicated that our choices would come with us.

I still know that friend even now and I’m sure if I asked he would tell me if those places still exist, but I doubt they are as available as they used to be.

About 5 or 6 years ago, in my current area, it was very common to see callout-service coffee house girls. They were shuttled about on the backs of mopeds, with their coffee service sets wrapped in linen, to their customer’s home or office. It seemed innocent enough, but everyone knew that customers would sometimes offer girls bonus tips for extra services.

When the Korean government started cracking down on prostitution/human trafficking 4 or 5 years ago, they specifically pointed out that there were under aged teen age girls doing this work, and the government imposed a minimum age limit of 19. Within months, many of these services went out of business. Apparently, the younger girls were a large part of the appeal. When they were replaced with older women, the customers stopped calling.
11. gbnhj - August 22, 2006

Well, as the story has it, at least one ill-famed individual made a habit of finding these women. Shin Chang-Won was on the run from the law for something like 1-1/2 to 2 years, and claimed to have spent most of that time staying with the 다방레지들. And, as Joe points out, they’re a pretty common sight in the countryside, travelling around by motor scooter with their trays tied up in silk.
12. sewing - August 22, 2006

There are a lot of dabang women in Daegu, too, as I recall.

And there was the movie You Are My Sunshine released just last year (or even this year?) about the relationship between a farmer and a dabang woman, the dabang’s main source of income not being the sale of beverages.


asian pages

Korea liberatormust read.

Korea times/09-11-2006 18:10

The prostitutes come from every walk of life

Police are also questioning 15 women who worked as prostitutes, mostly in their early to mid 20s including fashion models, college students, office workers, and a Chinese graduate student. Five Japanese tourists who used the online brothel services, and a 55-year-old taxi driver who was involved in escorting the women to customers at hotels and hostels, were also booked.

어찌된 일인지 김해정 기자가 취재했습니다.

리포트

농촌 읍면 소재지에서 흔히 볼 수 있는 다방입니다.

10평 남짓한 공간에 탁자는 거의 없고 전화기와 차를 담는 보온병만이 전부입니다.

차를 배달해주고 성매매까지 하는 이른바 티켓다방입니다.

이곳에서 일하던 미성년자인 다방종업원과 성매매를 한 혐의로 주민 53명이 경찰에 입건됐습니다.

집이나 인근 모텔, 심지어는 비닐하우스 등지에서 차를 주문하고, 성매매를 한 것으로 드러났습니다.

인터뷰 김치환 (부산 서부경찰서): "한번에 20만원을 벌어와야 하는데... 그게 안되니까 나가서 성매매를 하라는 식이죠."

업주는 미성년자라는 사실을 몰랐다고 변명합니다.

녹취 업주: "소개받았다.그래서 모른다"

올해 이처럼 광주, 전남에서 미성년자와의 성매매를 알선하다 적발된 티켓 다방은 모두 서른 세곳.

녹취 다방 여종업원: "대부분 미짜(미성년자)예요...광주 가보세요. 얼마나 많은데..."

사정이 이렇지만, 은밀히 이뤄지는 성매매는 단속이 어렵습니다.

인터뷰 김남희 (전남지방경찰청 여성기동대): "보통 보는 오토바이를 타고 다니는 것도 아니고, 차로 은밀하게 이동해서 티켓을 끊고..."

성매매 특별법이 시행된 지 2년 음성적인 성매매는 도시와 농촌을 가리질 않고 여전히 계속되고 있습니다.

KBS 뉴스 김해정입니다.KBS

summary

According to KBS, police rounded up some 53 men in one rural village in Jeollanam-do on charges of procuring the sexual services of an underage girl working for a local “ticket tea house” (FUN FACT: when you run a search for “tea house” (dabang) on Naver.com, you need to fill out an adult verification).Marmot

Here’s a shocking fact: 330,000 South Korean women work as prostitutes. That’s 1 in 70 womenAsian Watch

The Dong-A Ilbo ran a series of pieces today on Korea’s latest export to the United States—prostitutes.

The English section was kind enough to translate one of them, but alas only one.

The most moving one—and the one that was translated, talks with 15 Koreans women locked up in a detention center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The women were busted during “Operation Cold Comfort,” a major crackdown on Korean sex shops on the East Coast.Marmot

Prostitution Rampant on Web Sites


Some well-known portal Web sites’ online communities are arranging for Koreans to work as prostitutes abroad, a main opposition lawmaker said yesterday.

Rep. Pahk Jae-wan of the Grand National Party (GNP) said yesterday that the number of online communities offering prostitution work abroad has increased to 59, up 10 from six months ago. On those Web sites are advertisements for people to work as prostitutes at brothels or bars.



Usually women join the online communities to look for jobs, but men are also looking to become male prostitutes abroad. The special law on sex industries has caused many people to lose their jobs, he added.10-04-2006 19:42
Korea times

You Mi, a South Korean student is put into debt bondage, and life becomes an endless cycle of sex with strangers in California.(San Francisco Chronicle)

You Mi, a South Korean student is put into debt bondage, and life becomes an endless cycle of sex with strangers in California.

Most soldiers' sex crimes committed against civilians, report says

SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- More than 80 percent of South Korean soldiers' sex crimes over the past three years were perpetrated against civilians, according to a report Wednesday.

Out of 1,022 sexual criminals in the military, 856, or 83.8 percent, committed their crimes off base while they were on leave or on days off, said Rep. Sun Byung-ryul of the ruling Uri Party during an inspection of the court-martial.
Yonhap/2006/10/25

Kirby said on one occasion last year 100 Korean women were arrested on prostitution charges in a single day in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Korean women were also held in Connecticut, New York and Huston this year, he said, with Korean women forming a bigger part of the prostitution problem in the U.S, than those of any other nationality during the last one to two years.Jun.8,2006 21:58 KSTChosun ilbo

another Korean war on prosititution

Korean wave in sex trafficking

露ダンサーら「韓国は地獄だった」


　芸術興行ビザ（Ｅ6）を取得して韓国に入国し、売春を強要され暴行を受けてきたロシア女性25人がロシアに帰して欲しいという内容の陳情書をロシアの大使館に提出していたことが11日に分かった。

　本紙が入手した陳情書には酒の瓶で殴られ、性的暴行まで受けたロシア女性の絶叫が赤裸々に書かれていた。

　ソウル地検・刑事7部（部長：朴泰錫（パク・テソク））はこのロシア女性らの陳情書をもとに、外国人女性の不法入国と就職を斡旋した組織に対する捜査を行った結果、6カ所の公演企画会社を摘発し、企画会社の代表4人を私文書偽造などの容疑で拘束起訴したと明らかにした。

　被害を受けた外国人女性は、外国人勤労者の派遣事業をしている全国200カ所の公演企画会社を通して「公演だけをする」という条件で入国したが、売春まで強要されることがほとんどだった。法務部によると92年には430人だった芸術興行ビザの発行が2002年には5760人に13倍増加している。

　陳情書によると、昨年6月29日に入国したユレブナ（21）さんは釜山（プサン）のＫクラブでダンサーとして働いた。昨年8月27日午前0時頃、ウエイターが踊っていたユレブナさんを客が1人でいるクラブ内の個室に呼んだ。

　その客はユレブナさんの胸と膝を触り、自分のことを「浮気者」だと紹介した（ユレブナさんは韓国語を少し理解できた）。少しすると顧客はウエイターに「二次会（売買春のこと）はできるのか」と聞いた。

　ユレブナさんは強く拒んだがウエイターは肯いた。するとその客はユレブナさんに何かを飲むことを強要した。ユレブナさんが拒絶してその部屋から出ようとすると客はユレブナさんを殴って強制的にその飲み物を飲ませた。

　しばらく後、ユレブナさんが目を覚ましたのはユレブナさんが泊まっていた「モーテルの屋上に設置された部屋」に上がる階段だった。クラブの個室で性的暴行を受けた後、誰かによってここに移されたのだった。

　ユレブナさんの手、足、ストッキングは血まみれだった。自殺まで考えたが友人のレナさんに止められて断念した。働いていたクラブに産婦人科の医師を呼んで欲しいと頼んだがそれまで拒絶された。

　ダンサーのアダモブナ（22）さんは月400ドルの給料に寮と食事提供という条件で昨年10月韓国に来た。しかしアダモブナさんが勤務した京畿（キョンギ）道・松炭（ソンタン）のＪナイトクラブはこのような契約条件をすべて無視した。

　いつも酒に酔っているミスター・イム（ホステス管理人）はロシア女性を事務所に閉じ込めて酒の瓶や椅子で殴った。ロシア女性はトイレに行く時だけドアの外に出ることができ、ひどい時は事務室に1週間閉じ込められることもあった。

　ミスター・イムは踊りを踊るだけでは面白くないと、売春を強要した。また、一週間分の食費として1万ウォンだけ渡した。アダモブナさんは東豆川（トンドゥチョン）、郡山（クンサン）などのクラブを転々としながら売春を強要された。

　クラブのオーナーは逃げられないようにパスポートまで取り上げた。4ヵ月間でアダモブナさんが手にしたお金は36万ウォン。その瞬間、彼女の持っていた希望は絶望に変わった。

　昨年12月に入国したブラジミロブナ（21）さんは、売春を拒絶すると一週間車に閉じ込められ、水も満足に飲めなかった。踊りを踊るだけの契約だったと抗議すると、オーナーは酒の瓶で頭をこづきながら「じゃあ裸で踊れ」と言った。ブラジミロブナさんは「韓国人に受けた侮辱は一生忘れられない」と陳情書に書いた。

　韓国から戻らない娘を探す陳情書もあった。ウラジオストクに住むアレクサンドロブナさんは、昨年8月に韓国に向かった娘のオルガ（22）さんを探している。

　オルガさんの父親は陳情書で「体調が悪いのにクラブのオーナーが酒を強要する、という電話を最後に連絡が途絶えた。韓国人がロシア女性を虐待していると聞き、夜も眠れない」と書いた。

　検察関係者は「陳情書を提出したロシア女性の多くは故郷に帰った」と述べた。

アン・ヨンヒョン記者2003/02/11 朝鮮日報

War on Prostitution Goes National




Korea Must Counter Foreign Reports on Child Prostitution
Moon Gwang-lip says foreign reports on human trafficking is distorted, exaggerated

The Korea Times
Wednesday, September 8, 2004

By Moon Gwang-lip

South Korea should conduct comprehensive research on the present condition of child prostitution in the nation in order to prevent distorted or exaggerated foreign reports on the problem, a visiting Dutch legal expert on human trafficking said.

"Research should be implemented as soon as possible on a national level to prevent distorted news articles on the South Korean sex industry from spreading," Anna Korvinus, Dutch rapporteur on trafficking in human beings, told The Korea Times on Tuesday.

The Dutch prosecutor came to Seoul to participate in the annual conference of the International Association of Prosecutors.

Her advice came amid misleading comments and articles overseas about the situation of child prostitution in Korea.

In July, Lawrence Summers, president of Harvard University, wrongly stated in a lecture in the United States that there were one million child prostitutes in Seoul in the 1970s. After protests, he apologized to the Korean people for his comments, admitting the figure was incorrect.

Last month, the Washington Post sparked controversy here by falsely reporting there were currently half a million child prostitutes in Korea.

Korvinus said, "The matter is not the number itself. The situation of children being exploited in the sex industry is a huge problem. In that sense, the Korean government should come up with solutions, not just protest against the reports."

She advised the Korean government to streamline related laws on human trafficking and the sex trade in accordance with international standards.

"I read in some reports that among the human traffickers, there is a complaint of a lack of South Korean women," Korvinus said. "It’s crazy. The Korean government should be aware of the danger of the transnational crime and prepare measures to protect Korean women from possible tragedy."

Korvinus said Korea should adopt the principles of the U.N. convention on transnational organized crime in its law as part of efforts to effectively tackle sex crime. She added that every nation should have a common legal standard.

"Actually, the Korean government is taking a good approach on human trafficking,” she said. “It installed an intra-government task force in 2001, which has implemented a comprehensive set of policies to prevent the crime. However, now is the time for the Korean government to tackle the problem not just by itself, but also through international cooperation. And conducting solid research on the matter would be the first step."

As human and sex trafficking is a problem that transcends borders, every country should exchange information with others to tackle the problem on an international level, she asserted.

“What I suggest to each nation is to set up a government organization or group of people responsible for the intra-national exchanging of information on human trafficking,’’ Korvinus said. “It is more needed now that we have common goals and minors should not be victimized in the sex industry.”

Date Posted: 9/8/2004