By It seems like the Stars & Stripes has really opened a can of worms with their recent article on the South Korean juicy girl issue because it seems like everyone has an opinion on this:
Regarding the Sept. 8 article “Thinly veiled propositions: S. Korea’s ‘juicy bars’ said to be havens for prostitution aimed at U.S. military”: I find it very disappointing that very little has been done by either the U.S. or South Korean governments to curb human trafficking in South Korea. These sleazy villes right outside bases like Osan Air Base and Camp Casey are literally running rampant with juicy bars and prostitution.
A lot of lip service is given by U.S. Forces Korea and others about how they’re trying to fix this but, really, what efforts are being done to make more than a small dent in the problem?
I went out to the Osan ville the other night and was appalled by the number of mean-spirited Korean ladies trying to trick me into buying drinks or to “go home” with basically these modern-day slaves from poor countries.
From my personal account there was no attempt by the Korean bar owners to hide anything.
You can’t tell me it’s hard to prove what goes on in these bars. All it takes is a token effort by the leadership of these young soldiers and airmen to recognize what’s really going on. That’s what really bothers me about this: These young men join the military and I’m sure they and their families expect that, in return for their dedication to service, their leaders will take care of them. Well, in this case it isn’t happening, and it’s betrayal on a level that’s probably incomprehensible unless you actually see what’s going on.
This is a serious problem that is plaguing our young military men in South Korea. On one hand, their leadership tells them not to engage in human trafficking; on the other hand, when it’s running rampant right outside their door, the leaders just look the other way. If this isn’t a complete failure and betrayal by leadership, then I don’t know what is.
Master Sgt. Eric Haynes (retired)
Osan Air Base, South Korea[Stars & Stripes via reader tip]
I understand the Mr. Haynes concerns, but I do think it is important to point out that prostitution in the villes has been cleaned up in the past seven years since the Fox News report put a big spotlight on what was going on in the villes. Even though the villes have been cleaned up a bit, the prostitution is still going on which I don’t have much of a beef with than with the human trafficking.
I continue to maintain that the best way to handle the issue of human trafficking is to put clubs that hire third country nationals off limits. Most of the Filipina’s working in these clubs know what they are getting into, but these Korean club owners are still exploiting many of these financially desperate women by holding on to their passports and charging exorbant frees to further reduce what little money they do make. By forcing the bar owners to hire Koreans then there is no passport issue and these women can leave at any time. This greatly reduces the human trafficking concerns.
The people that will lose are the bar owners that will make less money because they will have to pay Korean women more money for doing the same thing these Filipina women are doing.
7:37 am on October 5th, 2009 1
It is interesting this guy gives a first hand account of his ville experience. Of course, he could be making it up but it's certainly believable.
Also, I highly doubt a Letter to the Editor will force any changes. Heck, how many readers bother to read LOE's anyway?
9:28 am on October 5th, 2009 2
Well, the Filipinas lose too of course. For many of these poorly educated young women being a juicy/prostitute is their only viable means to support family back home. And if not in Korea, they will still be marketing the only asset they possess, just for a lot less money.
One other unintended consequence of making TCN bars off-limits—Korean whores are a lot more mercenary and ruthless than pinays. Or so I've been told…
11:41 am on October 5th, 2009 3
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1:16 pm on October 5th, 2009 4
One other unintended consequence of making TCN bars off-limits—Korean whores are a lot more mercenary and ruthless than pinays. Or so I’ve been told…
You have been told correctly, not only that, they are more blatant when they do it.
1:28 pm on October 5th, 2009 5
If you do marry a juicy, If she is Korean, you take care of her and maybe her parents, thats it.
With the Pinays you take care of her, her parents, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins etc:
Her family can be relentless and overwhelming.
With the Koreans you got cold and business like = Independence
With Pinays you got warm and cozy = Dependence
2:32 pm on October 5th, 2009 6
GI, This guy makes it sound like it’s pretty bad now, in what way was it worse seven years ago?
4:06 pm on October 5th, 2009 7
When I came here in 1988, all the gils in bars were Korean. From what I understand they were working off a debt, such as money loaned so their brother could attend college. If you became friendly with them you could go to their little hole in the wall where they lived in the daytime if you were off. As far as PI girls go, I read an article how they get hired in the Mildde East under the pretense of a domestic in American compounds.
4:23 pm on October 5th, 2009 8
This guy is just preaching to the choir. Sure, he's right that the Osan/USFK leadership won't lift a finger to protect their troops.
Actually, it's so apparent to the Koreans that it probably makes Human Trafficking flourish unabated – The Koreans know USFK and the Post leaderships have absolutely no power or even any desire to fix the Human Trafficking problem. NONE.
5:37 pm on October 5th, 2009 9
Is it tempting to rationalize the whole Human Trafficking thing by saying how it helps the Filipinos make a few bucks and/or get out of their dire situation by marrying an extremely young, lonely, and pathetically stupid GI.
However, I think human trafficking prevents the Phillipine Government from taking actions to improve their country (rampant corruption, little birth control, etc), therefore a large portion of their people continue to live in abject poverty.
7:55 pm on October 5th, 2009 10
"I continue to maintain that the best way to handle the issue of human trafficking is to put clubs that hire third country nationals off limits."
Uh, GI Korea – you do realize that this would make virtually every restaurant in Tongduchon off limits as well?
Anyway, this guy went out in the Osan ville for one night, and sees all bar girls as prostitutes and "mean spirited" Koreans everywhere he goes. If this was about certain other ethnic groups, people would automatically accuse him of racism. He would also be a bit more helpful if he suggested a solution, instead of making blanket condemnations.
8:43 pm on October 5th, 2009 11
Well, there is clearly a distinction between human trafficking and prostitution. My point is a certain segment of the disadvantaged population makes the decision to prostitute, and I certainly think a woman has the right to use her body in anyway she chooses.
Subic and Clark AFB closed almost 20 years ago, and the sex industry continues to thrive. So, I don't see how you can blame this on the military.
Hell, prostitution in the room salons, barber shops, and glass houses is rampant throughout Korea and that is not because of the military presence. Hell, waeguks aren't even allowed in most of those places.
I'm just weary of the do-gooders
who would deny a woman the only chance she has to escape poverty and not give a sh*t if she starved as a consequence.
Yeah, in a perfect world the sex trade would not be necessary or viable. Wake me when that day comes…
11:56 pm on October 5th, 2009 12
I don't think this guy understands. Doesn't he know that Human Rights on the continent of Asia is just an AFTERTHOUGHT?
4:04 pm on October 26th, 2009 13
This is BULL! Take a walk outside Camp Hovey in Tokari. Nothing has changed much there since Fox in 2004. If a girl in the club can't find a barfine (soldier) by closing the manager will call local Korean hotels. The clubs are charging $150 and the girls receive 40,000 Won ($40) for after midnight activities.
12:44 am on October 27th, 2009 14
Has anyone tried calling P&HT Hotline at 333 from On-Post or 0505-736-9333 from Off-Post?
Lot of opinions but little action…
11:03 pm on October 27th, 2009 15
I called them early this year to report a Filippina friend that was barfined, raped, and beaten in Tokari. The Staff Sergeant on duty asked, "What is a barfine?" Then he took about 5 minutes to locate a form to report the offense. Nothing has happened. I suspect that the Hotline is just a front to keep everyone happy. The Koreans also provide the girls with free legal assistance… when a girl reported that her owner hasn't paid the girls in 4 months somehow the owner found out and beat the crap out of the girl. Then he had her moved to Busan.
7:17 pm on January 31st, 2012 16
As for the korean girls working the villes they fair no better, because their national ID card would be kept by her club employer. I would say clean up your own front yard because human trafficking is alive and well here there and every where and right here in US where I live in Las Vegas NV. I seen korean girl and women of all sorts trucked around this town like you want believe. Back in the day president Park Chung Hee made a statement that those girls that work in the villes was providing a national service for the national defense of Korea by providing those services to service men. In closing to control and protect the girls these state should delegate authority so these women can be accounted for and protected from criminals because somewhere somebody sister,mother,aunt,wife is being kept as a sex slave against her will. That sort of thing should be of a person free will. man or woman may god help us all because truly some of us are beast.
8:35 pm on January 31st, 2012 17
Just making the bar owners hire Koreans will not help cut human trafficking. I, too, believe that prostitution should be legal – if a woman can earn money with sex, so be it. However, the issue I have with ASSUMING that Koreans are not trafficked is that I have personally spoken to Korean bar girls and discovered that many of them are divorced women whose husbands left them with massive debt, so the bar owners paid off that debt, and are making the girls work it off. The bar owners even make the girls live in an apartment paid for by the bar owner, so they can keep them in an area close to them, but the rent charged to the bar girl is extremely high compared to what the bar owner pays. Also, if a bar girl wants to take a day off other than the one a month the girl gets off, the bar owner tacks on a fine (hence, bar fine) for the girl taking off, even if she’s sick. They do this to force the girls to either screw somebody to get money on their days off so they don’t take a day off and screw somebody without the bar owner getting their cut.
I say legalize prostitution, tax their wages (and whatever profits the bar owners receive), unionize them so they’re protected, and get them tested once a month so they don’t spread diseases. I believe Singapore does something similar and they have a lot of success over there. Some of the cleanest and safest streets I have ever had the privilege to walk through.
11:51 am on February 1st, 2012 18
Legalize prostitution works in germany, Singapore and some of the Scandinavians countries if the gods could be so kind to let it work here in Las Vegas NV ( the pretend sin city of taliban American) then may be we could do something about lack of money for cops, teachers, schools, and health care for some of the American citizens with their teeth falling out their head. Wouldn’t hurt to throw in a provision for marijuana use at at a local smoke cafe for rec and relaxation after a good rump in the sack , hell u got to draw the line somewhere. Just think of a the tax dollars that could be confiscated from those who want to work in that sort of work and used for the common good of society, dam!! bad ideal then the courts, legal system and local state federal jails would suffer from lack of customers … dam if you do dam if you don’t.
1:59 pm on February 1st, 2012 19
I understand it is now illegal for military members to patronize prostitutes.
3:31 pm on February 1st, 2012 20
It can be illegal all it want It does not matter we are human being. I seen soldiers take their Korean girl friends to top secret site/bunkers for the weekend because they could not leave the radios. We either talk our way in or pay I seen no ranks that reframed except one enlisted guy back in the seventies that guy never went down range from the day he got there until the day he left country, he hated Korea; As for as the officer’s they just have to be more sneaky than the enlisted I seen it all. There is a need for the human man woman contact by nature engineering. Human being will mingle if nature call if given the chance and no man made order will stop it, if you got a Army in a place there is money to be made by the local……Afghanistan what going on there? somebody is getting paid that for sure. Heheheh.
6:19 pm on February 1st, 2012 21
#19, The pompous asses that make the rules are the worst at it, they are all paying for sex (one way or another). Well spoken #20.
10:28 pm on February 1st, 2012 22
one who has live in South korea for a few years and has a korean wife I will tell you that it has a very cede korean on korean trichinous underbelly when it come to prostitution. I have seen three and four star police chief and there underlings walk thru red light district in seoul in uniform and when they do the GI ville they go in civilian attire. Prostitution and deviant rampant behavior is alive and well there. In Korea it is a silent profession normal it is hard to spot a korean on korean hooker she dress conservative her manners is charming unassuming nothing to give herself away as a hooker. For example on big convention and fight weekend check out those very well dress korean women that make their way from Seoul to Las Vegas by nonstop flight. Some with pimp some with out and some independent. Please forgive me for rambling what I am getting at is that korea is not exempt from the woassss of human degradation than any other country. They will tell you ” we are a conservative nation/society and that sort of thing only happen at GI ville”. Another example a few years ago it was found out a school principal was convicted alone with his brother for having their way with deft girls student at all deft school. Now this guy was rampant to the point he was paying the cops off with retainer fee incase something came up which it did and he got off with pretty much a slap on the hand him and his brother was convicted but they got no jail time. Now if that was a American or foreigner all hell would have broke loose with demonstration all over the place. but as long as it Korean men doing the dirty with under age hookers it’ swept under the rug. In closing the Korean government is not going to protect the philippines girl because they don’t protect their own girls who age is some time very questionable. Panoy are on their own and they got to eat and don’t we all.
4:44 am on February 2nd, 2012 23
White men are ill of this world. White men are whoremongers.
White men are drug pushers. White men are racisits. White men were colonial slave traders. White men started two world wars.
Whte men ought to be damned to hell for eternity.
6:24 am on February 2nd, 2012 24
Kimchi, you are absolutely correct. In fact, in all of creation there is only one thing worse than the white man. That would be people who judge others based on the color of their skin.
Don’t be yellow, admit the truth.
11:06 am on February 2nd, 2012 25
Kimchi’s girl ran off with a “white man”.
11:44 am on February 2nd, 2012 26
respond to #23 whtf!! White men do not have a monopoly on the wrong doing of this world I think most human beast have had a hand in doing one another in for example asian on asian Indonesia invade and kill thousands of East Timoran with weapon from you know where? black on black South Sudan problems and africans problems Tutsis problems., Japanese world war II, asian on asian taking and making woman sex slaves from their conquered territories. The traits of a beast nature is still left in a lot of human I don’t care what color they are. It just have not been bred out by nature yet, let see may be a few million more years. In closing human being are beast with the brain to reason and some time he or she does think about the common good of humanity. For all we know we are the only intelligent life? out here in space. Sad but true scary @#$%^ and @#$%^ enough to go around and went around by most men and some crazy ladies.
Respectfully blab man