pinays going to korea beware (non-eps )

Prostitution in South Korea is a large illegal industry. The Ministry of Gender and Family Equality estimated that it comprises over 4% of South Korea's GDP, with revenue exceeding $22 billion. Ranging from streetwalkers in red light districts to expensive "room salons" for private parties, there are 1.2 million women engaged in the sex industry at any given time, according to civic organizations (that would mean that 20% of women between 18 and 29 are in the industry, making for a greater number of prostitutes than schoolteachers). Official government estimates put the figure closer to 500,000.

South Korea is also a source, destination, and transit country for human trafficking; a significant number of women from Uzbekistan and Southeast Asia (particularly the Philippines) are brought to the country to work as prostitutes or "juicy girls", many of whom are believed to be virtual slaves.

A traditional red, white, and blue barber pole is a common sign that a building contains a brothel or a massage parlor that offers sexual services. Other means of advertising are more explicit, including cards and flyers distributed haphazardly on city sidewalks or placed on the windowshields of parked cars, with pictures of scantily clad women accompanied by directions, telephone numbers, and accepted credit cards.

In 2004, the government passed the Act on the Prevention of the Sex Trade and Protection of its Victims, a sweeping new law criminalizing human trafficking and stiffening penalties for brothel owners, establishing a number of shelters for victims and ending their automatic deportation. Some Korean sex workers, however, protested what they saw as a threat to their livelihoods.

The United States Department of State gives South Korea high marks for its efforts to combat human trafficking. With 37,000 U.S. soldiers stationed in Korea, there are several red light districts near the bases and many Korean civic organizations campaign against military prostitution. Though United States Forces Korea cooperates with Korean authorities, many accuse of it failing to do enough or even of shirking its duty.

In 2000, 222 girls under 18 were arrested for engaging in wonjo gyoje, or compensated dating with older men,[1] and in 1999 the Commission on Youth Protection reported that over half of girls arrested for prostitution were under 16. source galbijim