The Marmot already has an excellent posting on this issue, but what I found interesting in this Chosun Ilbo article is that for an article on sex tourism in Korea they felt the need to include a big, blown up picture of soldiers walking through the TDC Ville:

I have never seen foreigners going to the TDC Ville for sex tourism. The TDC Ville is filled with US soldiers not in Korea for sex tourism and prostitution has been greatly reduced in the ville anyway compared to just six years ago. Itaewon would have been a better picture considering that is the major sex tourism destination for Korea, not the TDC Ville.

Here is something else from the Chosun Ilbo report I found interesting:

Since the prostitution crackdown laws went into effect on Sept. 23, 2004, Korea says, brothels have been closed down, organized prostitution for foreign tourists has to all intents and purposes eradicated, and ordinary prostitution has been outlawed and drastically reduced. All this is corroborated by objective data. The latest classification by the CRS is therefore a blow for the Korean government, highlighting the need to disseminate accurate information to improve the national image. [Chosun Ilbo]

If anything the US has been positive about the changes in prostitution in Korea. If you read this CIS report, Korea is listed as a Tier 1 country which according to the report is a country classified as having a “serious trafficking problem, but fully complying with the statute’s minimum standards for eliminating trafficking”. Here are the countries Korea is classified with:

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Morocco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

Not exactly bad company to be included with. Before Korea’s prostitution crackdown Korea was listed as a Tier 3 so obviously things have improved and the US government has recognized this.

Just for the record I don’t think domestic prostitution in Korea has remained unchanged, but they have done a good job in cracking down on trafficking of foreign prostitutes, keeping foreigners away from the red light districts, and making prostitution in general less visible to foreigners in Korea. These efforts have been recognized by the US government, which is why it is now considered a Tier 1 country.