The Kukmin Ilbo reports that police have uncovered a new form of prostitution allowing johns to choose women from the comfort of a hotel.
Seoul’s finest have asked for a warrant for a 49-year-old Mr. Kim for pimping 15 foreign women, including a 27-year-old Ms. A from Uzbekistan. The women and four johns were also booked.
According to police, Kim and Co. operated from a hall in the basement of the “S” Tourist Hotel in Ssangmun-dong. Getting 130,000—140,000 won per trick, Kim had earned about 250 million won since Jan 8.
Kim had created in the basement of the hotel a so-called “meeting room,” a renovated room salon with tables where he sat the foreign women in his employ. All a customer needed to do is pick the one he liked and take her to a room upstairs. A police official said that unlike your garden-variety room salon, where the client drank and made merry with the girl before sexual services were purchased, the meeting room cut out the drinking and merry-making — just select a girl and go straight to the so-called “2-cha.”
Police say the women from Uzbekistan, China, Thailand and elsewhere were lured to Korea by brokers telling them they could make easy money. Once they got here, they were stripped of their passports and forbidden to go out. They were beaten when they refused to engage in prostitution and forced to work even during their periods.
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Oh dear. What a terrible story. Enforced prostitution is a bad thing no matter who does it to whom, when, where or why.
I hope to goodness that this won’t become a debate about “Koreans this or that….” or “foreigners blah blah blah.” This is a crime that can happen in many countries. And it is always a tragedy.
This, by the way, is not a “foreign prostitution ring”. It’s a “sex trafficking ring”. Foreigners are not behind this — they are the victims.
Thanks — actually, I couldn’t figure out what to call it, but that works.
I suppose there’s one way of learning whether these women were victims or co-conspirators: were any wheelchairs found at the scene?
Actually, this is relatively common practice in Russia. They offer girls from smaller Russian towns a chance to get a job in Moscow, a few in St. Petersburg, and offer them a place to live “until they find a job,” which they never do, because they don’t have the right documents to find work. Then they end up owing all this rent and end up trapped by their landlords.
They line the girls up in alleys and you can take your pick. Some even offer customer satisfaction guarantees. If the chosen lady didn’t do it for him, he gets to pick another one for free.
I’m sorry to see this method spreading.
I have abandoned such hope on all posts at MH, except for the occasional photo essay.
I have abandoned such hope on all posts at MH, except for the occasional photo essay.
I find the Marmot’s photo essay fetish for Japanese colonial architecture, Catholic churches, and borderline obsession with news regarding Korean prostitution quite eclectic, interesting, and endearing. No sarcasm intended.
Well, Mr. Marmot is — or was - or is was — primarily a western guy — so I don’t suppose it’s weird that he finds it fascinating to be able to see western style architecture in Korea. (Feel free to shoot me down here Mr.Koehler)
Reminds me of this one thing. Pickup a group of Korean men from the airport here in the US and what is the one thing that they will almost certainly find awesomely fascinating during the drive back? Those proud little Hyundai vehicles whizzing by.
Yes, but Mr. Koehler would complain that his photo essays garner the least number of comments…
I agree with Nappunsaram, sex trafficing is everywhere. This is not a “Korea” issue, it is a humanity issue.
Netizen Kim — You forgot English teachers gone wild. It’s the first thing I check for in the morning, right before prostitution news and figuring out which colonial-era building I’m going to visit on the weekend.
Gillian: hey, no fair, I was first! You’re discriminating against me.
The # 1 obsession of Robert Koehler is checking out the Marmot’s Hole, and by that I’m neither referring to this blog nor the anus of a marmot as baduk once mused. Robert is after all the “Marmot” himself.
…And, my friends, if you are confused, I am alluding to the house of the creature marmot which is “Marmot’s hole” where Marmot, aka Robert, keeps the marmot safe.
Kekeke.
His photo essays are important - they provide balance, and IMO, Robert does a good balancing act. While not compromising his own views, he provides a forum for people to express their own viewpoints, an underappreciated skill that provides a rich experience.
I enjoy the blog largely because I feel as though I understand many of the contributors here, even if they do disagree with one another. Having seen things from multiple perspectives myself, I can appreciate them all even the ones I argue against.
Seeing the photos, like reading the comments, I have this feeling of revisiting familiar scenes. Nicely done, Robert.
I for one DO hope that this becomes a discussion about Koreans. And foreigners. And everything else.
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