Militarized Prostitution in Korea

Soh 211. "During the first face, the american military government's elimination of licensed prostitution led to privatization of the sex trade. In the post-liberation political chaos and economic destitution, many people, including prostitutes from the now-closed brothels, gathered near the American military bases. These camptown women were called "Western Princesses." Soh 211. Wianbu

Sex trade consolidated and expanded, beginning with the Korean war. Truck would bring women on the weekends and such. Soh 212

"concerning the withdrawal of American troops resulted in the pullout of 20,000 U.S. troops from Korea by the end of 1971. (See Katharine Moon) Soh 212

"Soldiers also complained about "unhygienic camptown women and demanded that they be treated better as 'VIPs who came to rescue Korea.'" Soh 212 The Korean government, under the general-turned president Park Chung Hee, wished to prevent further withdrawals of U.S. troops and responded quickly and positively to the demands of the American military. To deal with the complaint of unhygienic conditions in the camptown sex industry, the Korean government started a clean-up campaign that included infrastructural improvements and enforced regular medical examinations of prostitutes [not the soldiers]; infected women were to be detained at special centers Thus the government began active engagement in surveillance and control of prostitutes servicing the U.S. military. Camptown Prostitution, for all practical purposes, had taken on the characteristics of licensed prostitution." Soh 212

" A series of fights between black and white soldiers broke out in the summer of 1971 over racial discrimination practiced at local bars. Soh 212

" A result of two important events that brought to a head underlying tensions between teh Korean and U.S. governments. (Katharine Moon has discussed these in detail in her study of the role military prostitution played in the strategic relationship between these two unequal states in the 1970s). 1) Nixon Doctrine 2) Racial Discrimination between soldiers. Soh 212

"In the fourth phase, since the late 1980s, the camptown sex industry has been reshaped by the development of industry-type prostitution in the broader society. The growth of adult entertainment industry has created a host of new types of sexual care work that offers prostitution as a by-product of legal personal care services at such places as massage parlors, bathhouses, and barbershops. Thewe new types of sexual care work have spread to the camptowns as well. Women in these businesses sometimes turn to the camptowns on weekends to earn extra money or to meat teenaters and college students visit camptown looking for opportunities to practice their English and make friends with American servicemen. Some of these "wanderers" turn into camptown sex workers." Soh 213 ALSO: notable feature - influx of foreign women from "third world" countries. "Korea's economic success and the expansion of the domestic sex industry have made camptown sex work less attractive for young Korean women" Soh 213 Therefore, Philippines and Russia.

American soldier named Kenneth Markle brutally murdered Yun Kum-i; ~3,000 people demonstration in 1992. the series of demonstrations that eventually led to the formation of the National Campaign for Eradication of Crime by U.S. Troops in Korea. According to NCECUSTK: 1993-1996 average 2 crimes a day. Korean government exercised jurisdiction in 0.7 percent of cases Soh 215

Foreign women outnumbered Korean women in the camptown clubs for the American military in the northern Kyonggi Province. Filipino > Russian.
Korean workers become jealous and see the hiring of foreigners as unpatriotic and losing foreign currency to them and "robbing Korean sex workers of the opportunity to 'help the national economy by earning foreign currency.'" Soh 214
"It is ironic that the rhetoric of patriotism started by male government officials has thus come full circle: now it is the sex workers themselves who resort to it to rally nationalist support against their foreign competitors." Soh 214

Soh 218