The plan, announced at a news conference by the Gender Equality Ministry, Justice Ministry and Korean National Police Agency, also calls for seizing all brothel profits beginning this September. Though illegal, prostitution in South Korea is widespread and rarely prosecuted.
According to the Gender Equality Ministry, more than , women worked in some 80, sex industry establishments in , the last year figures were available. The crackdown will be done gradually, and officials could not predict how long the process would take, Paek said. By , the special law will be introduced, she said; in , a few test areas will be chosen and closed.
The widespread closures would kick off in And officials already are talking specifics. A press release accompanying the announcement was 93 pages long. Another provision of the bill would allow the government to identify publicly people who hire minors to work as prostitutes. In recent years, U. Military police, the report found, sometimes were overly friendly with bar owners during their patrols and failed to report trafficking activity.
A controversial Fox News report also linked the U. It alleged military patrols were providing security for soldiers soliciting prostitutes. Soldiers routinely receive briefings and updates on the sex trade and what bars to avoid, officials have said.
Forces Korea law enforcement and Korean National Police officials meet monthly to discuss concerns, officials said. And a special hotl ine was established for soldiers to report prostitution or human trafficking. The numbers are DSN or, from off-post, In reality, sex industry watchdogs say, the problem of cracking down on prostitution is that it is so ingrained in Korean culture, particularly in the business world.
