Koreans Outraged, Seek Greater Understanding After Major Sex Trafficking Bust in California
NCM, News Digest, Aruna Lee, Posted: Jul 13, 2005
Earlier this month, local and federal law enforcement raided more than a dozen brothels in San Francisco and Los Angeles, exposing a major sex trafficking ring. Officials discovered more than 100 women, primarily from South Korea, smuggled into the country to work as prostitutes. Many were reportedly promised jobs as waitresses before being forced into prostitution.
Following the crackdown, some Korean Americans have voiced concern over the tarnished image of Korean immigrants and have called for their the community to take a closer look at what goes on in their own backyards.
In an interview in the Korea Times, Hong Ik Kim, executive director of the Bay Area Korean American Community Center, said that the recent arrests were “very shameful for the Korean community.” He said these kinds of scandals ruin the image of Korean Americans in the United States. “So we need to be especially vigilant about halting these kinds of practices within our communities.”
Kim added that Korean Americans should desist from patronizing massage parlors that are involved in the sex trade. He insisted that in order to eradicate the problem, Koreans should report to the authorities whenever they become aware of such establishments in their communities.
“Korean Americans have worked hard to build a respectable reputation in American society,” says Gun Bae Yoo, a member of the Bay Area Korean Community Center. “South Korea is no longer a poor country, so there should be no need for this kind of human trafficking.”
San Francisco Korean Chamber of Commerce Director Sin Ah Kim noted that prostitution has broken apart many families within the Korean community. “I’ve seen families destroyed by these kinds of prostitutes who come from Korea specifically to work in the sex trade,” she said. “We should not allow this to continue.”
Despite these strong reactions, there is a prevailing attitude of acceptance of prostitution among Koreans. Though offically illegal, prostitution thrives in major Korean cities like Seoul and Pusan. Each have their own red-light districts, where women can be seen through glass windows selling their services to passersby.
In an interview with New California Media, Sun Jung Cho, a San Francisco psychologist working with victims of domestic violence, said the Korean community needs to explore the origins of prostitution and trafficking in their country. She believes there is a lack of dialogue within the Korean community regarding the sex trade and issues of gender inequality.
“Prostitution is something Korean people don't talk about,” says Cho. “The more we Koreans can be educated and talk about social issues such as this one openly, we'll be in a better place to understand and analyze the sex industry -- who are the true victims and how issues of gender inequality, which are deeply rooted in the sex trade, give rise to such establishments.”
“As long as there are demands,” Cho adds, “there certainly will be people out there to meet the needs.” And if prostitution is going to exist, she said, “whether people like it or not, then why not make it a safe job?”
Last year in Korea women working as prostitutes took to the streets, protesting the many abuses they encounter on a daily basis. Cho believes that as long as prostitution goes on, these women’s safety from abuse by both clients and police, and above all their dignity, must be protected.
Still, most prostitutes are seen by Koreans as lazy, immoral women, often motivated by drugs to enter into the profession. The fact is, however, that the majority of these women coming from Korea to the United States are, like many immigrants, motivated by the promise of opportunity, of a better life and a more secure future. If drugs are involved, says Cho, it is to help these women cope with the daily struggles of their profession.
Like some of the women discovered in the recent busts, many South Korean women unwittingly are forced into the profession, forced to repay exorbitant transportation fees.
One woman who sought help escaping the brothel she was kept in sent a message in an Internet chat room. The woman was without her passport, which had been taken by her brokers, the people responsible for smuggling her into the United States. She was brought to the Korean consulate in San Francisco, where she received a new passport and a ticket back to Korea.
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