Via Korea Beat comes news that despite the anti-prostitution law, police are busting more prostitutes than ever:
Three years have passed since the Special Anti-Prostitution Law went into effect but prostitution-related crimes are not decreasing and every year since there have been a greater number and variety of prostitution-related businesses.
It was announced on the 25th that according to research made available by the police to National Assembly Representative Gwon Gyeong-seok of the Grand National Party, red-light districts decreased through police enforcement but prostitution-related crimes increased every year.
According to Assemblyman Gwon’s research there were 1,679 red-light districts and 5,567 brothels in September of 2004 and 995 areas in September of this year, a 40.7% decrease, and 2,508 brothels, a 55% decrease.
But the average number of crimes discovered per day has gone from 47 in 2004 to 96 this year, more than doubling.
Also, in 2005 there were 18,805 crimes of which 4,422 (23.9%) were committed in brothels, and this year that figure increased to 5,254 (43.8%), revealing a growing trend of spreading brothels.
It is interesting that brothels are spreading, but the fact that arrests have doubled shows the police are at least appearing to enforce the law a little bit more than usual. However, when I was last in Korea this summer I took a walk through the Yongsan Red Light District to see if anything has changed and it appeared business was going on as usual except for the fact that policemen were guarding the entry ways to the red light district to chase off foreigners like myself.
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8:26 am on November 3rd, 2007 1
I’ve said it before here and other places but I’ll say it again just for emphasis, there’s a reason that prostitution is called the world’s oldest profession.
You can pass as many laws as you want, make everything remotely associated with prostitution off limits or illegal and yet somehow, the women who provide the service and the men who want it, will ALWAYS find a way to make it happen.
If the government really wants to control this activity, legalize it, tax it, regulate the hell out of it, like a lot of other things and make it soooooooooo impossible to make a good living off the girls or whatever that the people involved in it finally give up and find something else to do.
8:38 am on November 3rd, 2007 2
It may be illegal in Korea but in actualality prostitution is a part of Korea as much as kimchi is. It will always be there but the government is just trying to make the appearance they are trying to do something about it after Korea came up on the state departments list of sexual trafficking nations.
8:52 am on January 28th, 2008 3
The other thing is, it’s ridiculous to pick on Korea for prostitution. Have you guys ever been to Germany or the Netherlands or Eastern Europe, not to mention other parts of Asia? Look, in a perfect world none of this would exist. At the same time, to pick on Korea for this is ridiculous. In Germany, they have tons of this stuff.
3:41 pm on January 28th, 2008 4
Jim, personally I could care less what two grown adults do behind closed doors but I am totally against human trafficking which is still a problem in Korea but no where near as bad as it was just 5 years ago.
I also like pointing out the prostitution issues in Korea because some of the Korean media like to sensationalize the sex trade outside US bases even though they totally fail in comparison to what is going on in Korean Red Light Districts.
4:09 pm on January 28th, 2008 5
It’s the way of face, one day it is ok, next day its a big issue. Everything is seasonal and contemporary, people will look the other way if it suits them. The room salons, noribangs, and hostess bars thrive throughout (its strange that there is a red light district around every major train station, airports, etc..)Where will the teeth sucking, slip on shoe wearing men go to have fun after working hard?
10:20 pm on March 16th, 2008 6
12:55 am on June 1st, 2008 7