hankyoreh

By Kim Ji-hoon　　
　
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) national crimes investigation squad booked 22 people without detention in a case involving the hiring of South Korean women at a Japanese prostitution business, police announced Thursday.
Among those booked were six brokers charged with employing the women, including a 35-year-old man identified by the surname Choi, and sixteen female sex workers, including a 22-year-old woman identified by the surname Kim.
Based on the police investigation findings, Choi and the other brokers allegedly began recruiting the women in March at Internet employment sites and job placement services, promising that they would earn 30 million won ($25,345) a month, and, “No one will know you since it is overseas.”
The charges state that the women were employed at a Japanese prostitution business and that the brokers earned 100 million won over six months at rates of one million won per person.
Two people were found to have made one billion won in profits over the year since August 2010 by employing South Korean women introduced to them by Choi and the other brokers, including the 45-year-old female owner of a Tokyo massage call service identified by the surname Suzuki.
The investigation found that Choi had been living in Japan with Suzuki, a naturalized South Korean, but was deported back to South Korea after being arrested for staying illegally. Choi subsequently recruited South Korean women, sending pictures of them to Suzuki via smartphone and arranging interviews, after which they were employed in Japan, police said.
The police requested that Japanese police cooperate on an international investigation of Suzuki and the other proprietor.
The 16 sex workers booked ranged in age from their early 20s to early 40s. Most were workers in adult entertainment, while two of them were an undergraduate and a graduate student saddled with debt.
One of the women is reportedly undergoing psychotherapy for severe depression and thoughts of suicide after a video shot without her knowledge by a male Japanese client surfaced on the Internet. The video has circulated widely in South Korea under the name Ilbon Wonjeongnyeo, “A Korean Woman Working Overseas in Japan,” which ranked among the top ten search terms at a major domestic portal site in August.
Most of the sex workers, far from receiving the promised “30 million won a month,” were instead saddled with 5 million to 10 million won in debt through debt bondage. A monthly interest of 10% was tacked on to an advance payment for airfare, lodging, plastic surgery, mobile phone use, and semi-nude publicity photographs.
An official with the police said, “There are still many South Korean women remaining in Japan who are involved in the sex trade.”
“Since this is also a serious problem for our national image, we plan to conduct a thorough investigation to root out overseas sex trade.”
　　
Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]