A major problem we have here in 2ID is human trafficking. It is no secret that women from Russia and the Phillipines are brought here to Korea through organized crime gangs to serve as prostitutes. However, since a 2002 Fox News Report, a TIME magazine article, and a Army Times expose; USFK leadership has really tried to reform the “ville” culture here in Korea.
I have seen the Fox News Report and the other related reports and there is much information left out and a certain agenda is definitely being pushed. The reports make it seem that only American soldiers are fueling prostitution in Korea and that the Korean public wants us to stop prostitution near US bases so they can rid Korea of this activity. No mention is made in the reports that the US military makes up very little of the 22 billion dollar industry of prostitution in Korea. Prostitution actually brings more money into the Korean economy than agriculture.
For the US military to make up this kind of money every US soldier serving in Korea would have to pay $500,000 a year to prostitutes. I know my latest pay raise can’t cover that tab. So it is obvious that the wide spread prostitution in Korea is supported primarily by the Korean public. Just look at all the so called “barber shops” everywhere.
Plus the reports try to make the viewers sympathetic to the “drinky girls” when in my opinion the majority of them knew what they were getting into and came here anyway in the hopes of making more money or marrying a GI. Yes there are ones that were duped. No doubt about that. However, I also feel sympathetic to the legions of young soldiers I have seen get puppy dog love with these girls and end up getting their bank accounts wiped out, credit cards maxed out, and hearts broken all at the same time which affects the rest of their lives. I have even seen soldiers commit crimes such as counterfeiting, fraud, and theft to pay for their drinky girl habbit which always lands them in jail because they always get caught. Drinky girl is every bit as dangerous to soldiers as drugs yet we don’t treat them as being the same. In addition the reports try to make our courtesy patrols look like bar bouncers protecting the clubs thus endorsing the activity. The CPs are in fact there to prevent the young soldiers from beating each other up not to protect the club owners.
With that said the military does have a lot of work to do to fix our image here in Korea and protect our soldiers. When I first came to Korea in 2000 the “ville” night life was rowdy and crazy. The “drinky girls” were everywhere and offering their services right there in the open. Now with the media exposure the girls are still there but things are much more secret and concealed. Since I have come back this year I was really suprised how much the “ville” has cleaned up. I know for a fact that 2ID is set to make some new policy in regards to the “ville” to better educate the soldiers about human trafficking of these females.
However, no matter how much education you give them these soldiers are young, maybe have never been with a woman before, and are receiving huge self esteem boosts from these ladies hanging all over them. Young men want to have interaction and relations with young women. It is human nature we cannot stop that. No amount of education can stop that. So if the Army wants to stop soldiers from engaging with these girls they need to put all the clubs off limits. However, if they do this, a lot of negative political implications will occur against the command from the surrounding community.
So somebody is going to have to make some tough decisions if the command is serious about ending human trafficking. If they do put the clubs off limits they will need to offer alternate ways for soldiers to meet women and have fun. Because if you don’t I predict an increase in sexual assaults and alcohol related incidents on post. Alcohol and hormones are bad mix expecially when you are forcing young men be celebite for one year. It is just doesn’t work.
So what else can be done? How about reforming the clubs in the “ville” into typical dance clubs minus the drinky girls? That would be a start. Then make it easier for soldiers to go to Yongsan and Osan on the weekends to meet different people and just to have an opportunity to get out and have fun. The pass, curfew, and transportation system from 2ID areas makes it extremely inconvenient for soldiers to travel to these places. Which funnels them back into the “ville” to hang out with the “drinky girls” again. Why can’t the army come up with a bus system that gives soldiers easy access to other Korean recreational areas such as the various amusement parks, markets, and outdoor areas.?
I really believe that if the military wants to change the culture in Korea in regards to “drinky girls” the army needs to do more to offer the soldiers alternative sources of entertainment during their time off. This is the only way to stop the problem of human trafficking near US military bases. Notice I say only near US military bases because only the Koreans can really stop human trafficking in Korea since they cause the majority of it. Not the US military.
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thanks for the link. Glad you...
10:20 am on December 24th, 2006 1
I read all those reports and you’re right, they were biased at best. Most of these girls do know exactly what they’re getting into, no doubt about that. Here at Osan, there are girls who came, left, and came back again. It’s all about the Benjamins..always has been and always will be.
What can USFK do to stop GIs from visiting prostitutes? Nothing, really. All the rules, threats, and punishments won’t stop young men from heeding nature’s call. And as long as there’s money to be made off these guys, the bar owners (or someone else) will find a way to do just that.
10:23 am on December 24th, 2006 2
I understand that U.S.F.K. would support any initiative to stop human trafficking. That is laudible. To lump all prostitution with human trafficking is, however, simplistic in the extreme, so say the least. Frankly, I cringe every time I see the four senior enlisted men up on the screen making statements about prostitution.
Hint: What two adult human beings decide to do behind closed doors, whether or not a reasonable amount of money has been exchanged, is their own damned business and not the chain of command’s, provided of course, that the two human beings mentioned are not “fraternizing”, and it is of their own free will. Human trafficking touches upon the free will aspect, prostitution does not.
There are times when it is in a command’s bet interest to prohibit sexual (and other) relations between the troops and the local population, but that is for military necessity and not moral purposes.
Morality is a personal issue between a soldier and his God. Morale is a command issue. Let’s look out for the troops morale, and scrap any attempts to legislate morality.
10:24 am on December 24th, 2006 3
Wow! No drinking, no smoking, and NO SEX.
Makes me glad I’m not in the Army now.
Looks like you could more fun joining a Jesuit order.
10:24 am on December 24th, 2006 4
Times have definitely changed. For whatever reason Korea has never had any media attention until lately and the 2ID command is getting hit up by congress to reform the place. Earlier this year congressional representatives came here and walked through the ville and were not happy. So the command here has to react. It is amazing the amount of politics people like to play with the military.
10:25 am on December 24th, 2006 5
With regards to the prostitution catering to GIs in the “villes”, Washington’s anti-human-trafficking stance and pending legislation is expected to change all that. (See AP article and link below.)
I don’t know, but this is perhaps akin to how Mayor Guliani cleaned up Time’s Square in the early 90’s by getting rid of all the seedy bars and peep shows, and making it more tourist friendly by inviting family-friendly retailers like “The Gap”, “The Disney Store”, “Bennigan’s” and “Virgin Records”.
Question: Once this new law takes effect that would effectively make it a court-martial offense under UCMJ to solicit a prostitute in any U.S. AOR — and effectively shutter all the villes and juicy bars — what kind of establishments should take their place in terms of offering entertainment for all those rowdy and recreating GIs?
Microbreweries? Sports Bars? Hooters? Lowe’s Cineplexes? TGIF’s and Bennigan’s? The GAP? Tower Records? Sure, why not?
Whatever it is, there has to be money injected and new businesses brought into the local economy in areas where villes have been, or else such measures from Washington will all be for naught.
If nothing is done after the juicy bar owners and places of prostitution go out of business, sooner than later, they’ll eventually return, and it’ll be business as usual.
Therefore, the USFK and the Korean gov’t should work hand in hand in order to make those areas more ‘consumer’ friendly by laying the groundwork and paving the way to bring in more hospitable and legal business operations that will comply with their directives.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39746-2004Sep21.html
Anti-Prostitution Rule Drafted for U.S. Forces
By Pauline Jelinek
Associated Press
Wednesday, September 22, 2004; Page A13
U.S. service members stationed overseas could face a court-martial for patronizing prostitutes under a new regulation drafted by the Pentagon.
The move is part of a Defense Department effort to reduce the possibility that service members will contribute to human trafficking in areas near their overseas bases by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
In recent years, “women and girls are being forced into prostitution for a clientele consisting largely of military services members, government contractors and international peacekeepers” in such places as South Korea and the Balkans, Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) said yesterday at a Capitol Hill forum on Pentagon anti-trafficking efforts.
Defense officials have drafted an amendment to the manual on courts-martial that would make it an offense for service members to use the services of prostitutes, said Charles S. Abell, a Pentagon undersecretary for personnel and readiness.
If approved, the amendment would make it a military offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice to have contact with a prostitute, Lt. Col. Ellen Krenke, an Abell spokeswoman, said later. The draft rule is open to 60 days of public comment after being published in the Federal Register, she said.
Officials also are developing a training program for service members and contractors, to be distributed in November. The program will explain trafficking, department policy on it and possible legal action against violators, Abell said in a written statement.
Additionally, the military is reviewing regulations and procedures for placing off-limits those businesses where such activities take place and working with Justice Department officials to tighten rules on contractor misconduct.
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, commander of the 37,000 U.S. service members in South Korea, said another initiative started on the peninsula has been to “make on-base military life a more desirable experience, and attempt to diminish the seductive appeal of many of the less wholesome off-duty pursuits.”
That effort includes offering expanded evening and weekend education programs, band concerts, late-night sports leagues and more chaplain activities.
All new arrivals to duty in South Korea are instructed against prostitution and human trafficking, and the military is working with South Korean law enforcement agencies, he said.
NATO officials in July outlined new guidelines adopted to ensure alliance peacekeepers do not encourage sex trafficking gangs by seeking the services of women forced into prostitution.
10:25 am on December 24th, 2006 6
Don’t expect any famous franchises to open up in 2ID ville areas anytime soon with the uncertainy of when 2ID is going to be moving to the Pyongteak area. However, there are many good establishments in the Korean downtown areas which few soldiers venture to. So if the ville areas don’t reform these soldiers will start filtering into the downtown areas which may cause more problems with Koreans. The Osan and Camp Humphrey’s area should be able to reform its ville areas without any problems since those bases are not closing. Just have to wait and see what happens.
10:26 am on December 24th, 2006 7
Hey, great blog Mr. American soldier. I salute you.
I think its an understandably bad situation. Young men need the company of young women. I disagree with the commentor who says that its not the Army’s business - I think the Army should try to stop this because the girls sometimes “wipe out their bank accounts,” they can pass along STDs, they could potentially be spies, theyre a distraction, and so forth. And we arent living in a libertarian moral-vacuum either, and I think its very persuasive to simply say it: prostitution is wrong and should be discouraged.
How to discourage this? Well the thing is, as far as I can tell, being a prostitute is considered a most honorable profession in East Asia. Culturally, its simply almost as normal to visit a whore in Seoul as it is to take home a Super-size #5 meal at McDonalds in the USA. MUCH more stigma attached to prostitution in the USA, MUCH less, in East Asia.
It would take a big religious/cultural shift to change Korea’s attitudes toward prostitution. While busting the human trafficking business up, stopping sexaul slavery, and cracking down on pimps/whores is helpful, ONLY a religious-cultural attitude shift could really decrease the mainly Korean/East Asian prostitution problem that has become the USFK’s problem.
While we often think of morals are only getting worse from generation to generation, sometimes there are shifts that improve things. After the Vietnam war the US Army had a morale crisis with drugs, prostitution, alcoholism, etc (those crazy 1970’s) that was in large part fixed as the born-again Christian movement came into the military. You see - It has happened and could happen again!
Also: Ever heard of the New Model Army? (Hint: Oliver Cromwell). theres an extreme for you, but it was nonetheless true.
10:26 am on December 24th, 2006 8
Yes, prostitution is much more prevalent here in Asia but once USFK starts putting clubs off limits and handing out severe punishment for soldiers caught soliciting prostitutes you will see the prostitution problem dramatically decrease here. However, what I’m worried about is the law of unintended consequences. The unintended consequence I am most worried about is an increase in sexual assaults. Sexual assaults are bad enough in the military as it is with soldiers sharing coed barracks awash with alcohol. Now you are going to have soldiers cooped up even more now with no outlets on the weekend to expend their energies on if the military does not come up with and encourage alternatives to the “ville.” So far I have seen no plan for any alternatives to the “ville.” All I ever hear about is putting stuff off limits and throwing the book at soldiers who violate the new rules. Taking care of soldiers is more than keeping them a way from juicy girl.
10:26 am on December 24th, 2006 9
While I think you are on to something - that keeping hookers away from troops is only a partial solution - I don’t know about USFK soldiers mixing with regular Korean girls. Comments on the US/Korea blogs seem to indicate that, sadly, Koreans look at the USFK soldiers as really lowly people. Thus a nice Korean girl might be discouraged from dating a US soldier.
And now we get back to the Korean prostitution problem: Koreans see the USFK as more of a market for their prostitution business than a group of worthy, decent men. So prostitutes may be drawn to the US bases because US soldiers are ‘not good enough’ for relationships with Korean girls.
But I think my original point is still the most important factor here: Prostitution is wayyyyy too accepted and common in Korea/East Asia. And this problem spills into the USFK more easily in Korea than it would elsewhere (I would imagine). East Asians are just too comfortable with having high levels of prostitution in society and this affects soldiers (who are already vulnerable to this problem, being almost all young males).
10:30 am on December 24th, 2006 10
Cato, although I find your argument very logical and well presented, what makes you think that you, USFK, Congress, or anyone else has the right to force Western morals down the throats of East Asians?
It’s nothing personal; I just think the undertone of your arguement is somewhat elitist, borderline arrogant, and definitely pious.
Not all girls in the Korean clubs are victims of human trafficking, and not all of them are bad, morally deficient ‘whores,’ as you would call them.
The root causes of prostitution have more to do with simple economics than they do with morals. People do what they have to do to live, plain and simple.
10:31 am on December 24th, 2006 11
Rob - I use the words “whores”, “hookers”, “prostitute” interchangeably. I just wanted to change up the language.
I didn’t say that all the Korean girls at the nightclubs were “whores”… in fact I lamented that there arent enough ‘good korean girls’ around for the American soliders to date.
I agree with you that sadly many girls are forced into prostitution by economic circumstance, but I think you and I both know that very often there are prostitutes who do it for ‘easy money’, rather than working. I could cite links to stories on this phenomenon among young girls in American suburbs, but I’m too lazy to go find them for you… so just take my word that it exists.
Now, if you’d like to get economic about this, I think that ‘prostitution culture’ is a determinant of supply AND demand. Prostitution in Korea is more ‘morally ok,’ or less emphasized as a vice than it is in, for example, the USA. Now this means that the number of Korean people who would be inclined to visit prostitutes but are restrained by conscience is LOWER AS A PROPORTION of the Korean population than in the US, and that the number of people who are inclined to visit prostitutes and are not restrained by conscience is HIGHER AS A PROPORTION than in the US. If we can agree on this idea of ‘prostitution culture’ then we can proceed to say that there will be greater demand for prostitutes in Korea. As for the supply side of the equation, we could look at Korean girls who would be inclined to enter into the market for prostitutes to gain that ‘easy money’ but are/arent restrained by conscience and we’d come up with similar results as we did above. This is why I say the prevalence of prostitution in Korea has a cultural component which is a determinant of supply and demand.
As for the ‘forcing Western values’ question, I would say that the idea that prostitution is a vice is not exclusive to the West - in fact it is a universal human moral value. But if you won’t agree to that you would at least agree that prostitution in Korea/East Asia is considered a vice, just not as much of a vice as it is in the West. I think that the Koreans should add more emphasis to this vice to discourage prostitution - therefore my proposal isnt an alien idea for them.
10:31 am on December 24th, 2006 12
Thanks for the well thought out reply Cato. My original post was a bit effusive, I admit.
I understand your position, and concede that prostitution is more accepted over here than it is in the United States. However, I have also been to Europe (Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, etc.) and prostitution is alive and well in those countries too; it’s not just an East Asian phenomenon.
I’ve often debated with Koreans the ’supply versus demand’ dynamics of prostitution around military camp towns here. Many of them blame GI’s for the demand side of the equation, much like Katherine Moon’s book Sex Among Allies asserts, yet totally ignore the supply side of the equation. They also like to conveniently ignore the fact that prostitution is ubiquitous throughout Korea and is not solely a dynamic of US military camp towns, although the NGO’s here would love for everyone to believe that.
7:07 am on December 28th, 2006 13
The Army leadership in Korea is out of touch. To lump all prostitution as human trafficking is just a knee jerk response to the media reports that came out some time ago.
The truth is there is zero, human trafficking in the military Ville districts. The women know exactly what they are getting into. Anyone who has ever been to the Philippines knows all about the coconut telegraph. These women come to make higher wages than they would back home and hopefully marry a foreigner. I’ve never met one Filipina or Russian working in the Villes that said they were unaware of what the job entailed. Oh sure, there are some that BS to the GI they are trying to snare by pretending to be good girls and acting naive so he’ll think she’s a victim and not really a Ho but that’s just part of the juicy girl game. They ALL knew what they were coming to Korea for. Trust me on this. But you stick a TV camera on these girls and interview them for TV and of course they are all going to say they were tricked into being Ho’s. That’s basic human nature. Nobody is going to say on TV that they came to Korea to be a prostitute. Many of the imported girls are on their second or third visa to Korea. If they are forced or tricked into this business, then why do they keep returning? And what about the bars that are entirely staffed with local girls? Are they humanly trafficked too? Did mamasan go out to the rice fields and catch these women in a bear trap?
I will however say that in the Korean glass house districts that women are sometimes forced into it usually due to being in debt. This is apples and oranges when you lump that scene with the Ho’s in the ville. Taking one situation and applying it to another creates a false perception but that is exactly what the Army is trying to do by stating over and over that all prostitution is human trafficking.
If the KNP’s want to clean up prostitution in Korea then fine, let them go ahead. The Army shouldn’t be in the morality enforcement business though and what the Army leadership is doing is basically Fraud, Waste and Abuse.
The Fraud is making false force protection measure claims to justify the continued curfew in Korea. You don’t believe me? Well consider this, the Army tried back in July 2004 to institute a FRAGO that would force all DOD personnel, civilians, contractors and dependents to follow the military curfew. That FRAGO was just a decree that all DOD personnel must follow the curfew but it was fought by the DAC union and quickly rescinded. There was nothing legally binding anyone to follow it. What the Army leadership then did was have their legal staff find a way that would force all DOD personnel to follow the curfew and there is a little thing DAC’s and contractors must follow called “Force Protection Measuresâ€. It’s written into every contract I’ve ever seen over here anyway. Guess what happened? Yep, a new FRAGO came out in October stating that all DOD personnel must now follow the curfew due to force protection measures because of an ongoing terrorist threat in Korea. Once they put the justification as force protection, everyone had to follow it. Anyone with common sense knows a midnight curfew would not deter any terrorism activities. It’s a blatant lie to misdirect the public’s attention from the real reason for the curfew. The real reason for the curfew is to limit the amount of time DOD personnel spend in the Ville and make it financially difficult for the bar owners. They can’t just put the Ville off limits for obvious political reasons but they can try and financially starve the bar owners in the hope that they will voluntarily seek other business opportunities. FRAUD.
The Waste is the waste of manpower the Army has dedicated to enforcing the curfew and shutting down the bars. The last time I was on the Hill in Itaewon, there must have been 20 MP’s out harassing anyone they saw in “Off Limits†establishments. Myself and a guy from the UK were both asked to produce ID cards by the MP’s. I had to laugh when the Englishman said “Fuck off Yank. I’m not an American, I’m from a free country and I can do what I want hereâ€. The sad thing is he was right. WASTE.
The Abuse is the blatant abuse of command that the Army leadership is using to enforce their religious and moral beliefs on everyone in the DOD community. I believe this is at the heart of the current push to shutdown the bars in the Ville. The current Army leadership has evangelical Christian views and they are abusing their authority to enforce these views on everyone else. There is no greater abuse in the military than using your authority over others to enforce your religious and moral dogma on your subordinates. This is exactly what they are doing albeit very smartly. They can’t come out and just say “Don’t go to the Ville because it’s Un-Christian and immoral†but they can use subterfuge, misinformation and manipulation of their media outlets to make people follow their line of thinking. ABUSE.
Hence the “Human Trafficking†stigma they are using to cast a bad light of the military entertainment districts. Nobody I know would ever frequent a place where women were held against their will and forced to have sex with men. Nobody I know has ever seen a place like that in any military Ville in Korea. But if you listen to the Army leadership, they are equating the bars with this practice. It’s total bullshit. But say it enough and fools will listen and believe.
The juicy bar scene is not for everyone and for those that don’t like it they can avoid it. Some consider paying for consensual sex as immoral. Good for them. They don’t have to participate in such activities. But not everyone agrees. Like it or not, those bars do serve a purpose and as long as the bar owners and the girls are making their money, everyone (except the hardcore Christians) are happy. The problem is we have a couple of those hardcore Christians at the top of the Chain of Command in Korea and they are doing everything in their power to put an end to what they perceive to be immoral activities.
The next time you see an AFN commercial preaching about human trafficking and loss of human dignity, see it for what it really is; an assault on your intelligence.
7:14 am on March 2nd, 2007 14
Cialis….
Cialis….
11:45 am on March 2nd, 2007 15
This is a late reply, but…
Truth Seeker,
That was an awesome post. The only thing I disagree with you about is…
…if there is no human trafficking going on in the Ville (Songtan especially), why is the freedom of the girls restricted after the clubs close? Many would consider this involuntary confinement to be indicative of human trafficking.
Further, the juicy business is structured to insure the girls make wages only slightly higher than they could make in the Philippines. Most of the salary the club is legally required to pay is returned to the club through various fines, payments and charges. While this may be a matter of unethical economics, one result is forced prostitution.
When a girl is “barfined”, she can now refuse in most clubs without being beaten or otherwise physically forced to comply. The club will, however, deduct the cost of the barfine from her salary if she refuses to please the customer. This deduction can be higher than a month’s income… even more for a girl who is not making her juice quotas and still owes a lot of money for her full-price plane ticket, broker’s fees, and other contrived and inflated charges designed to make her work unprofitable without accepting barfines.
I see no way to polish this turd.
While human trafficking and prostitution do not have to be connected, USFK has cracked down on prostitution just enough to insure only this business model succeeds in the Ville.
Further, every week, observing senior members of Osan/USFK leadership playing golf with the clubowners who openly engage in the above practices does not build confidence that a sincere abolition of GI-supported human trafficking is USFK’s true goal.
J!