women in the industry came from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia, Southeast
Asia and other countries with economic difficulties; and he cited military relationship
between the two countries.
He said in the 1980s there were about 25,000 marriages between US soldiers and Korean
women, 80% of which ended in divorce. The owners of massage parlors and other sex
establishments operating in the US can lure Korean women without fluent language skills
and no connection to ask for help into the sex industry.
In this article, I will look at the situation in the US. Due to the US military stationing in
Korea, an estimated 150,000 Korean women working at US military camp towns marry US
soldiers and movedto the US. It is presumed to have caused development of entertainment
establishments operated by Koreans within the US. With the establishment of Act on the
Prevention of Sexual Traffic and Protection, Etc. ofVictims Thereof in 2004, brokers who
find it harder to make profits are more likely to turn their eyes overseas.
The August 2005 raid by the federal police on the Korean brothel around Dallas to arrest
dozens of Korean brokers is well-known within the Korean society. 42 Korean women
working as prostitution were arrested as well. ‘Operation Gilded Cage’ of San Francisco led
to arrest of 104 Korean women along with 11 owners and 27 suspects. The women are said
to have testified that they entered the US with fraudulent advertisement and forced into
prostitution because of physical threats.
Civil organizations have continuously pointed out the need for policy protection for
Korean women sent to the US, Japan, Australia and Hawaii area. We strongly call for
policy on Korean women sent overseas and victim support system.
3. Korean government’s effort to eradicate human trafficking
I have briefly looked at the status of victims and protection. To resolve the problem of
human trafficking we need 4Ps: Prevention, Protection, Punishment and Partnership. As
prevention and punishment are in the domain of the government, I want to look at some of
the implementation strategies taken by the Korean government to eradicate human
trafficking.
3.1 Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Gender Equality
Anti-human trafficking activities were weak for the past several years. From early 2000s
38 ❙ Seoul International Conference Against Human Trafficking in Migrant Women