With the Chosun Ilbo concerned about the “worsening” sex trade outside US military installations in Korea, I thought it would be interesting to compare what GI and Korean red light districts are like. Here is what the sex trade for Koreans is like:
Yes, the red light districts in Korea is nothing more than window shopping for prostitutes. These red light districts are also scattered across the country and usually located near bus and train stations in order to maximize profits from people traveling through the cities. The Dongducheon Red Light district in the above video for example is right next to the city’s bus depot.
Now let’s look at soldier “villes”. For those who have never been to a soldier “villes” in Korea, they are nothing like what you see in the above video. I have posted about the TDC Ville and the Stanleyville before, but the below video gives a better idea of how different the soldier “villes” are compared to Korean red light districts:
Here is how the Stanleyville looks like when the soldiers are out and about:
As you can see the red light districts and the villes are very different. You will never see girls in glass windows in the villes. Prostitution is banned in the villes, which doesn’t mean it doesn’t go on, but it is kept very quiet and most of the time the soldiers spend tens to hundreds of dollars buying “juice” for girls in the ville with nothing to show for it afterwards. The big differences between these areas is readily apparent but the Chosun Ilbo feels the need to inform people about the bogus claim of “worsening” sex trade outside US bases when the sex trade outside US bases is nothing near what is happening in Korean red light districts.
On a side note, in the videos you can see the Hillside Club in Stanleyville, which when pulling CP was one of my favorite areas to stand around and watch things because during the winter time it was humorous to watch the drunks trying to walk up that hill which was often covered in ice. The drunk falling on their ass on the hill may not have been as funny as watching juicy girls with high heels trying to walk on ice, but entertaining nonetheless.
Popularity: 34%
10:52 am on January 31st, 2008 1
as i have said before this is about the only red light a korean male will stop for
11:00 am on January 31st, 2008 2
Mcnut, that was to damn funny!
11:59 am on January 31st, 2008 3
Two of my favorite Seoul prostitution scenes:
The brothels in Chongyangni were located across from the big market. Young, heavily made-up women in tight dresses would beckon ajoshis passing by while ajummas, sometimes with kids in tow, would lug bags of produce.
Along the road that runs from Chungcheongno to Shinchon, there was a line of brothels that began across from the Ahyeon Police Station and then morphed into a string of wedding shops near Ewha. “Young women’s dreams next to the reality of married life,” I described the juxtaposed businesses.
2:13 pm on January 31st, 2008 4
About 2 or 3 years ago, when this issue came up somehow out in the public, I would have given my right arm to have someone in South Korea go out and take pictures and videos like this for an eye-witness account of the reality on the ground.
The prostitution angle is perhaps the best selling anti-US/USFK item in the sense that it gains much and a special kind of support in the US.
This is a small cottage industry in academia focusing on not just Korea-US historical relations but the history of man-ness and the male “soldier” mentality and the exploitation of women.
I don’t remember the title and don’t want to chase a link, but I am sure most readers will be familiar with the book written by a Korean abroad on the history of GI exploitation in South Korea…
….anyway…..you can see how the prostitution item exploited in Korea is larger than Korea by noticing even the US Congress has been duped (I say duped) into actually jumping on the anti-US/USFK bandwagon.
The typical anti-GI message on prostitution of the usual, perpetual, all-encompassing anti-US/USFK groups reaches that far….
And anybody who hasn’t been there to see the reality really can’t understand the mind-boggling hypocrisy…
2:19 pm on January 31st, 2008 5
The first time I saw one of those places was when I decided to walk to my apartment in Icheon-dong from post one evening. This took me right past Yongsan Station. Suddenly, people were acting strangely … no eye contact, looking downward … cabs cruising by slowly … then the pink lights. Then I saw it.
Naturally, I turned the corner to gawk. And of course, when the white guy walked past, the girls all started shutting the doors and going inside. In retrospect, I’d have to say that experiencing preemptive discrimination from a bunch of whores might have been one of those moments where my Korea “honeymoon” phase hit stall speed.
(Of course, it might just have been me.)
When I went back in April ‘06, the whorehouses were all still there. Despite the “war on prostitution,” there was still a police station right next to them. The only thing that changed was that instead of a station, there was a huge, family-friendly E-Mart right across the street.
2:58 pm on January 31st, 2008 6
I walked right through the Yongsan red light district just this past summer to see the effects of the great prostitution “crackdown” myself. They had some young Korean riot police complete with shields and batons stationed around it that directed me not to enter. I continue to feel bad for these young mandatory service riot policemen. When they are not getting their heads bashed by some North Korean commie sympathizing ajushis they have to stand around and play perimeter guard for a bunch of prostitutes and their police chiefs are the ones getting all the side benefits from this activity.
Anyway I just walked further down the sidewalk and found an alley way without police and walked right through the area to Yongsan Station. Absolutely nothing had changed despite the great “crackdown”, not that I was surprised.
The great “crackdown” from what I could see existed solely of keeping the foreigners out of the red light districts, which has worked considering the State Department dropped Korea as a sex tourism destination on their recent report.
3:13 pm on January 31st, 2008 7
hey the police need to be close by just in case of drunk addushis try to get some action with out paying
and of course in close proximity so they can arrest any foreigners who dare pay for p___y
6:27 am on February 1st, 2008 8
This has emerged as a common theme in certain media, not just in Korea, The Las Vegas Sun newspaper’s online website has a story about a similar smear job done on Vegas.
Look for the article:
Bewildered, academics pore over sex-trade hysteria (They try to figure out how they got steamrolled)
“…And, Comella said, the presentation of sex workers as women who are universally exploited, trafficked, raped and coerced also plays perfectly into the commercial aspect of the media, which must sensationalize and oversimplify if they’re going to sell.”
1:29 pm on February 1st, 2008 9
What amazed me about all of this isn’t the red light districts. It was the totality of the sex industry in Korea. What amazed me is how much you would miss much of it if someone didn’t point it out to you — the room salons and tea delivery girls and public bathes and love hotels and so on. It is such a huge industry going on in front of everybody’s eyes and all the Koreans know it….
…..why American Congressmen can’t get clued in, I have no idea. (American scholars don’t want to be….)
That being said, however, there should be clear and honest talk on the use of foreigners in clubs all over Korea (including near US bases).
And pressure should be brought to bare on the government….
…..the South Korean government……
Or maybe give US MPs the right to arrest the bar owners and managers and staff and give the US government the right to control Korea’s visa process for immigrant “entertainers”…
1:51 pm on February 3rd, 2008 10
7:50 pm on February 17th, 2008 11
3:30 am on February 29th, 2008 12
Meh, lol….my first weekend here was spent in seoul ( got here around christmas, so i had alot of time off), and it didnt take long, for me to somehow travel into the redlight districts of yongson…..lol, crackdown, and this crap about military members and prostitution..whatever…its a joke…even right now down here in kunsan prostitution sitll goes on these bars….
4:40 am on April 27th, 2008 13
2:43 pm on May 28th, 2008 14
11:27 pm on June 14th, 2008 15
11:41 am on August 30th, 2008 16
Until the U.S.military can controlthe prostitution that goes on outside base in any country, we will continue to have tyhe host of problems that have become persistent in the past decade or so. Luckily I retired long befor ethe PC crowd got involved with me sowing my wild seeds. Ha!
9:20 am on September 16th, 2008 17
[...] http://rokdrop.com/2008/01/31/comparing-red-light-districts-in-korea/ [...]
3:47 am on September 21st, 2008 18
Who are you people trying to push american values onto a society that is much older than the usa?? Why does the korean system of prostitution bother you?? If you don’t like it here in korea or can’t adjust to the way koreans live their lives in their country, then leave. We don’t need you here, we don’t want you here, and it’s quite obvious you have zero respect for this country and its culture. Enjoy the freedoms here in the republic, such as prostitution, because in the “free” america, you will go to jail for it. Like George Carlin said, “selling is legal, [bone]ing is legal, but selling [bone]ing is illegal”. Only in america…
11:31 am on September 21st, 2008 19
“Huh?
3:47 am on September 21st, 2008 18 Who are you people trying to push american values onto a society that is much older than the usa??Why does the korean system of prostitution bother you?? ”
I think you are missing the meat of the general concensus here. Hardly anyone who has posted here is against prostitution…they are only sick and tired of being the scape goat for the ills of Korean society, and the convenient “Punching Bag” for any perceived outrage that Korean society wishes to suddenly adopt.
Trying to push American values on Koreans??? Please give us a legitimate example of where we have tried to force American values on Koreans?
I think it is exactly the opposite…Koreans are “Embracing” certain American values at an alarming rate, thus you see Koreans rushing to learn the English language, etc.
You want us to leave? No Flying Doggy Sh#t…that is exactly what many posters have offered. If the U.S. military is NOT wanted here, then Yes, many would agree with you that they should depart Korea to a country that is more welcoming.
As for the rest of us “Cats & Dogs…” I hardly think that any of us actually have visions of staying here forever…so be careful for what you wish for…You just might get it.
So get on out there, get Soju’d up and find that ROK DROP Poster girl behind the glass. You’ve earned it.
6:08 pm on October 2nd, 2008 20
7:32 pm on October 2nd, 2008 21
11:03 pm on October 21st, 2008 22
Hello,
the bailout…sex for money on the open streets with windows to view the girls. So the American govt. knows and the Korean govt. knows. But for some reason it is allowed. Yet all hell in the American media takes place when an American soldier was questioned. So Fox News can go to hell. Leave us the hell alone. Crack down on the American govt for letting the Korean govt get away with it. And if they continue why not let the American soldiers do it? it’s their money! What is really wrong with it anyway? So many cultures and countries allow it…Either do somehting about it or leave it alone