USFK comfort women
This interesting article has appeared in the Joongang Daily.
PYEONGTAEK, Gyeonggi – At 69, Cheon Chang-suk lives alone in a tiny cell with moss-covered walls. She starts her day by collecting recyclable materials off the streets of her neighborhood, items she redeems for less than 1 cent per kilo at local stores.
In the eyes of the Korean government, Cheon is one of many underprivileged citizens who receive monthly welfare aid worth 380,000 won ($271), the minimum cost of living that people with no income get from the state.
But Cheon says the Korean government owes her more because her life was irrevocably turned upside down by the turbulence of modern Korean history.
During the chaotic and impoverished months following the cessation of hostilities of the Korean War (1950-1953), Cheon began working as a yangbuin, a term coined by locals for Korean bargirls and sex workers at major American camptowns, or gijichon in Korean.
Gijichon sprang up across Korea around 1945 when U.S. troops arrived here to begin their post-World War II occupation. The primary function of these brothels was to provide sexual services for U.S. soldiers in a controllable, confined area, a move seen to also protect local women from the American military men.
The camptown economy peaked in Korea during the 1960s when the country was in desperate need of foreign currency to rebuild its war-torn economy.
Camptown prostitution and related businesses on the Korean Peninsula contributed to nearly 25 percent of the Korean GNP, according to Katharine Moon, a professor of political science at Wellesley College, in a 2002 study.
According to Cheon, the Korean government supported the camptown brothels, hoping the industry would boost regional economies.
In fact, recent studies here by scholars and nongovernmental agencies have suggested that the Korean government helped build and maintain the brothels after the Korean War, supporting the claims of women like Cheon.
Note that the rationalization for these prostitutes is exactly the same one the Japanese had for the so-called “comfort women”.
Moving on to the last paragraphs -
People working on behalf of women like Cheon are looking for solutions with reference to the Korean sex workers forced to serve the Japanese military during World War II. Koreans registered as so-called comfort women receive a one-off government payment worth 43 million won and an 800,000 won monthly stipend. But the public doesn’t view women involved in camptown prostitution in the same way they see the comfort women because camptown sex workers went to work voluntarily.
Another issue that weakens Cheon’s case is that some of the camptown prostitutes were already working in local brothels, which does not bolster the argument that they were victims of the Korean War.
“It’s a subject that still requires more research, because the enemy or the historical context is not as clear as the comfort women,” says Lee Jeong-hee, a Democratic Labor Party lawmaker who is considering putting Cheon’s case into a bill.
“We need to see this issue beyond historical injustice and look at it from the broader perspective of sex trafficking and the individuals involved from the past to present.”
Actually, many of the comfort women were prostitutes as well. Most of the answered ads in the same way as the camp town women answered ads. Government doctors tested the women, just like the Japanese did. Women were registered, just like the Japanese did. The only difference is that the comfort women were camp followers, following the Japanese camps as they advanced and retreated throughout the war, while the American camps were stationary. The US congress opened a can of worms when they passed the comfort women resolution. Expect this to come back to haunt the US at some point.
Read the rest of the article yourself.
More occidentalism commentary on the comfort women.
Korea Registered “Comfort Women” for UN Soldiers
“Jamae”: Selling Oneself into Slavery
King Sejong Ordered Comfort Women for His Troops
Comfort woman gives contradictory testimony
Thank you for the accurate picture of comfort women by Japan and Korea (and the U.S.)
Japan apologized and offered compensations.
It is Korea’s turn to face up to the history and offer apology and compensation to the women that Korea exploited in the way Japan did.
I have visited here after a long time because there was following post in a blog, EnjoyKorea.
“http://www.occidentalism.org/?p=35
（残念ながら、真実を語った元ネタのこのサイトは韓国のサイバーテロ集団であるVANKの攻撃にあって閉鎖された模様ですが、保存していた英文と写真は、ここに掲載します）”
Please comfort the soul of US Army comfort women who comitted suicide as follows with above topic.
http://www.enjoykorea.jp/tbbs/read.php?board_id=teconomy&nid=3915101&type=rank
Talking of apology and compensation to comfrt women, Vietnam seems to require them to the rapes and fatherless childres by Korean army.
(Following site is hard to connect by numbers of accesses.)
http://www.enjoykorea.jp/tbbs/read.php?board_id=teconomy&nid=3919786&start_range=3917338&end_range=3921683
Here’s another source that is somewhat biased, but still contains some truth.
Sex Among Allies, although biased, is also a decent source that Congress should have consulted prior.
MarkA, now that Obama is POTUS will he abolish the USD 500 000 per annum Hooker Allowance for USFK personnel?
ponta, a relevant quote for your observation is from Anton Chekhov, “Man will become better when you show him what he is like.”
Errol,
No…nothing will change. The North and South Coreans are already courting Obama to ensure that Korea remains in a state of perpetual division and US Dollars continue to flow in.
Its shocking the way Corean people whore themselves. I wish there was some way to keep Coreans from infecting other cultures.
It seems that many Korean prostitutes in Australia are not regarded as sex slaves by the High Court.
An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said last night that a High Court decision handed down in late August regarding a Melbourne brothel owner had redefined what constituted exploitation as opposed to “harsh working conditions”
Check the link here.
With all the talk concerning sex crimes in Korea, you would think Koreans would be making great strides in tackling sex crimes. That would be wrong.
It’s probably much worse than those figures show. Even in 2008, most “crimes” are not reported or a “cash settlement” makes it disappear.
From the same journalist.
Singer Freed from Rape Litigation
12-21-2008 17:46
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Pop-idol of the 1990s Lee Jae-won of H.O.T was arrested on rape charges but was released when the victim withdrew her suit in an out-of-court settlement.
Lee expressed regret and said he would suspend performances indefinitely.
The Seoul Eastern District Court last Friday issued an arrest warrant for Lee, who was accused of having sexual intercourse without consent with a would-be star at a Seoul motel on Dec.10. Lee alleged that the action was based on mutual understanding, but the woman claimed she was unconscious from alcohol consumption and unable to refuse. Korean law distinguishes forced sex acts from sex without consent.
Lee was arrested but three hours later the woman changed her mind and made a settlement. The judge also agreed to release Lee around 11 p.m.
Lee Sunday said he would make an official statement about what happened and about his future soon. The singer said he is sorry for letting people down via his Web site
Lee was supposed to appear on cable TV show as a host Tuesday. He may not be able to release his new album next year.
Lee debuted as the youngest member of H.O.T., which is said to have opened a new era of boy bands here. After the sensational group split in 2001, he remained in showbiz by forming another band, JTL, and going solo, seeking success in Japan and China.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/12/117_36465.html
According to this report 7% of secondary school girls are engaged in the sex trade.
Female Students Vulnerable to Sex Trade on Internet
11-17-2008 18:03
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
One in every three female secondary school students in Busan were found to have received sex trade proposals while chatting online, according to a survey by the Ministry of Gender Equality Monday.
The ministry questioned 2,012 female students in the southeastern port city and found 33.4 percent, or 672, answered they received prostitution offers.
Among the female students who received the offers, only 35 percent said they ignored them. Nearly 20 percent said they were actually engaged in the sex trade, while the rest said they were “intrigued” by the offers.
“It’s a survey of students in Busan and it could be difficult to generalize. But it’s obviously a case in point showing how serious online sex trading is,” a ministry official said.
It also shows that many teenagers are vulnerable to the online sex trade, he said.
Among those who sold sex, 37 percent said they did so on impulse, 25 percent did so for money, and the rest out of curiosity and other reasons.
Asked about the reasons for the frequency of sex transactions online, 37 percent cited easy accessibility and 33 percent anonymity. The rest answered that they can sell sex with little worry of being caught by police.
kswho@koreatimes.co.kr
http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/11/117_34547.html
A happy new year
kotoshi mo yorosiku onegaishimasu m(_ _)m
Ex-Prostitutes Say South Korea and U.S. Enabled Sex Trade Near Bases
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/08/world/asia/08korea.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=korea&st=cse
stop press!!!
man barks like a dog….he must be a dog!!!
Korean men and even women seem to have a habit of preying on weak, poor and desperate Korean girls. The NY Times article above mentions that the Korean government was in the prostitution business and viewed it as a “necessity.”
Here’s an article from the JoongAng Daily. Defectors from North Face an Added Danger http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2899522
Now we know why there are so many South Korean “activists” trying to “free” North Koreans. The pay isn’t too bad either.
But what happens when a North Korean can’t pay? Let’s just say it’s only bad when you pimp out your fellow Korean to the Japanese.
Happy Endings blog.