hankyoreh

meaning they have no customers on most days.

By Heo Seung, staff reporter

Even if it didn’t bring them more money, it didn’t bother the grandmas to listen to the grandpas complain about their lives. Grandpa Choi, 78, who had attended the funeral of his youngest brother a few days ago, came to the park after having a daytime drink with a friend. “I come to the park whenever I feel depressed, to talk to the grandmas. I have nowhere else to go to talk about my sad situation,” said Choi.

“He must be very sad,” said grandma Yoo, 69, while seated next to grandpa Choi, trying to comfort him.

“There is nowhere to go for an old man like me in South Korea,” said grandpa Hwang, 81, whose hometown is Hamheung, North Hamgyong province, North Korea. “It has been 27 years since my wife died. How can I not be lonely?”

He said he often has ‘relationships’ with the grandmas. “At least I can talk to someone when I am out here. If there is somewhere else that I can go to, please let me know.”

On the day of the reporter’s visit, there was an old man in his 80s who was wearing a suit with a fedora. He was handing out individually packed rice cakes to grandmas. There were other grandpas who would hand out five thousand won (US$4.60) or ten thousand won (US$9.20) bills.

Such relationships are not something they are proud of. “That policeman over there has been around here for a long time. Maybe about three years now,” said one grandma. When a plain-clothes policeman appeared, the grandmas went silent. Starting this year, laws prohibiting prostitution have been more strictly enforced. According to data from Hyehwa Neighborhood Police Office, in both 2010 and 2011, there were only seven confirmed cases of prostitution, but in 2012, that number rose to 54. At nearby Jongno District Police Office, between 2008 and 2011, there was an average of 4 prostitution cases per year, but in 2012, they were 65 cases.

As a result, the grandmas have to leave the motels that only cost five thousand won which are near the park, and walk to Jongno 6-ga to find a motel. “The grandpas never come after they are caught,” said grandma Masan while shaking her head. “Grandmas used to go to the motels near the park, but they come near here now, to avoid the police,” said the owner of a motel which grandmas often go to, around Jongno 6-ga.

“Depending on the guests that grandmas bring, I receive between ten thousand won ($9.20) to twenty thousand won ($18.40).”

“When we question the grandmas after arresting them, they are usually ill. They can’t work because they are sick and on top of that, they have no money for treatment,” said a policeman on the Jongmyo Park prostitution beat. “It’s a very sad situation; they are all out here simply to live.”

The policeman added, “We can’t stop the crackdown on prostitution.” The police usually issue a fine of 50,000 won (US$46) for prostitution. For grandmas who earn 500 thousand won ($460) a month, fifty thousand won ($46) is a heavy fine.

But the grandmas still come to work to the entrance of Jongmyo Park. Grandma Masan, who has been at the park since early morning, but ‘hit nothing’ all day, ate her 2,500 won ($2.30) noodles for lunch after having been on an empty stomach all day. “Save up a lot of money while you are young: no one will give you a job when you are old,” she said.

Grandma Moja has been coming to Jongmyo Park for about three months. She has not been able to find a job after she injured herself last fall while making kimchi at the restaurant she worked at. “Sometimes grandpas tell me to come to their place and help out with the housework, but I can’t even do that because my body isn’t well,” she said.

Grandma Namsan has bad hearing and after having surgery for pleurisy a few years ago, she hasn’t been able to work because of her health. “We can collect paper, but that only brings us few thousand won a day and we can’t live on that,” Moja said with a sigh. For the grandmas, prostitution is the economically rational choice.

In addition, although they do not have a husband, because they have children, they are not entitled to social assistance from the government. Grandma Masan separated from her husband at a young age and lived half of her life alone. However, she could not qualify for Basic Livelihood Assistance because she had a son who lives in South Gyeongsang province.

Her son has been out of work for few years after being injured while doing manual labor. “I can’t rely on my son’s family when they are having a hard time themselves,” said grandma Masan, who pays her expenses with the 90,000 won ($83) she receives as Basic Senior Pension and with the money she makes prostituting herself.

Grandma Namsan lives with her unemployed son. Grandma Yaksudong’s son sends her money every month, but it isn’t even enough to cover her rent. “More than half of the grandmas never worked as prostitutes when they were young. They were normal people who lived normal lives,” said Lee Ho-sun, chief of Korea Elderly Counseling Center who conducted a research on Jongmyo Park’s ‘Baccus Ladies’.

Professor Nam Ki-cheol, who teaches social welfare at Dongduk Women’s University said, “The most important factor in elderly prostitution is elderly poverty, and this issue is more severe for women.”

Currently, the rate of elderly poverty in Korea is 45.1% and is the highest among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states, where the average is 13.5%. Inside this percentage, women‘s elderly poverty ratio is 47.2% (OECD average 15.2%), which is higher than male elderly poverty ratio of 41.8% (OECD average 11.1%).

“Many of the elderly end up falling into prostitution because they cannot qualify to receive social assistance from the government. This is because even though the elderly live difficult daily lives, they have family members who are obligated to support them. The government has to remove the obligatory supporter clause from the law to remove the blind spots of social welfare.”

“Most of the budget for elderly people is being put into Long-term Health Care Insurance, which provides for people who are ill. But because of this, people who are healthy but struggling with poverty are being left out of social safety net,” said chief Lee Ho-sun.

“Different from the past, we need a welfare policy that reflects the current reality, where most of the elderly are active and healthy.”

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