Human Trafficking in [South Korea Street Children in [South Korea] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [South Korea] [other countries] |
Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery Republic of Korea (South Korea) [ Country-by-Country
Reports ] The The Republic of
Korea (R.O.K.) is primarily a source for the trafficking of women and girls
within the country and to the United States (often through Canada and
Mexico), Japan, Hong Kong, Guam, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Western
Europe for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation. Women from Russia,
Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.),
North Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and other Southeast Asian
countries are recruited to work in South Korea, and a significant number of
these women are trafficked for sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. An
increasing challenge for the ROK is the number of women from less developed
Asian countries who are recruited for marriage to Korean men through
international marriage brokers; a significant number are misled about living
conditions, financial status, and expectations of their Korean husbands.
Some, upon arrival in South Korea, are subjected to conditions of sexual
exploitation, debt bondage, and involuntary servitude. Some employers
continued to withhold the passports of foreign workers, a practice that can
be used as a means to coerce forced labor. South Korean men continue to be a
significant source of demand for child sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the
Pacific Islands.
- U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008 [full country
report] |
|
|
CAUTION: The following links have been
culled from the web to illuminate the situation in the ***
FEATURED ARTICLE *** South Korean
labour laws reduce migrant workers to slaves To migrant workers, the EPS is a
law that allows slavery. According to the new law, migrant workers can work
in South Korea for only three years and for only one employer. Since migrant
workers cannot change their work place, the employer basically has complete
control over the wages and working conditions of migrant workers; thus these
workers are bound to the employer like slaves. ***
ARCHIVES *** Bur of Democracy,
Human Rights & Labor - Country
Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 TRAFFICKING
IN PERSONS – Women
from Concluding
Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) - 2003 [42] The Committee remains
concerned that, due to prevailing negative cultural traditions, domestic
adoptions may be arranged without authorization or involvement of the competent
authorities and that such arrangements do not necessarily take into account
the best interests of the child or, where appropriate, the views of the
child. The Committee also notes with concern the high number of inter-country
adoptions, suggesting that this form of adoption is not necessarily a measure
of last resort, and reiterates its concern, stated in previous concluding
observations, that the State party has not ratified the Hague Convention of
1993 on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Inter-country
Adoption. Seoul Denies Human Trafficking Accusations http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200609/kt2006090818452311960.htm Seoul officials yesterday
challenged the United States’ portrayal of Korea as ``a frequent destination
for trafficked women and children from the former Soviet Union and
neighboring Asian nations.’’ Indonesia traffics children who
often become sexually enslaved, said the report, and women and girls as young
as 10 years old from Kyrgyzstan are transported for sexual exploitation and
end up in countries like South Korea, the report said. U.S.
Busts Tell Sorry Tale of Korean Prostitutes Abroad The number of Korean women looking
for work as prostitutes abroad or being trafficked for the purpose is on the
increase. Some 50 members of two gangs busted in Key US Gulf Allies Cited in Human Trafficking Report http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2005-06/2005-06-03-voa43.cfm?CFID=78215800&CFTOKEN=43948633 Mr. Miller also commended South
Korea for what he termed a brave initiative to curb the sex trade in that country,
and Sweden for similar action and for a Europe-wide information campaign
focused on curbing demand for trafficking victims. Nbi
Busts Mail-Order Bride Syndicate In his report to Wycoco, NBI
Anti-Human Trafficking Division (AHTRAD) chief Romulo Asis said the group’s
modus operandi was to entice Filipino women to apply for match-marriages with
male Koreans. Asis said Korean clients
would come to the Freedom
House Country Report - Political Rights: 1 Civil Liberties: 2 Status: Free Human Rights Overview by Human
Rights Watch – Defending Human Rights Worldwide U.S. Library of Congress
- Country Study South Korea
Assists Illegal Foreign Workers Illegal foreign workers deported from
South Korea without being paid back wages or worker's compensation will be
offered government assistance. The South Korean government requested that the
governments of the Philippines, Nepal, Bangladesh and other Asian nations
compile complaints from their nationals who were exploited by South Korean
employers. Korea Must
Counter Foreign Reports on Child Prostitution In July, Lawrence Summers,
president of Harvard University, wrongly stated in a lecture in the United
States that there were one million child prostitutes in Seoul in the 1970s.
After protests, he apologized to the Korean people for his comments,
admitting the figure was incorrect.
Last month, the Washington Post sparked controversy here by falsely
reporting there were currently half a million child prostitutes in
Korea. Korvinus said, "The matter
is not the number itself. The situation of children being exploited in the sex
industry is a huge problem. In that sense, the Korean government should come
up with solutions, not just protest against the reports." South Korean
labour laws reduce migrant workers to slaves To migrant workers, the EPS is a
law that allows slavery. According to the new law, migrant workers can work
in South Korea for only three years and for only one employer. Since migrant
workers cannot change their work place, the employer basically has complete
control over the wages and working conditions of migrant workers; thus these
workers are bound to the employer like slaves. South
Korea accused of using slave labour Garment workers around the world
are accusing South Korean companies of treating workers as "virtual
slaves" in factories abroad. The
Secretary General of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers
Federation (ITGLW) has gone to Seoul to protest about the treatment of workers
in countries including Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The ITGLW, which represents workers in the
garment industry all around the world, alleges that South Korean companies
running factories abroad top the list of bad employers. ABSTRACT - This paper focuses on global
dimensions in mapping the foreign labor policies of Korea. First, I
categorize the foreign labor policies in the world into five types in terms
of the integration methods of foreigners and the standard for naturalization.
Second, I analyze the system and the operation of foreign labor policies in
Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.
The eight countries have substantial similarities, with minor differences in
foreign labor policies: “temporary migrant workers program for manual
workers.” In this study, I identify the migrant recruiting scheme, including
legislatures, the responsible government bodies or public organizations,
major economic sectors engaged, and major nationals recruited in each
country, and compare international labor migration management programs among
them. Finally, I discuss the current issues of the foreign labor policies in
Korea. Lana came to South Korea for the money.
Back home in the Kyrgyz Republic, where she toiled in a shoe factory for $20
a month, she longed to buy an apartment, but the $5,000 price tag seemed
impossibly high. Then she saw a
newspaper ad seeking women to dance and talk with U.S. servicemen in
nightclubs in South Korea. The ad promised what for her was an astounding
wage - $2,000 in the first six months. Lana, a bright, attractive blond, took
the job. Now, she wishes she hadn't. The nine months she has worked in
clubs that dot the half-mile strip running straight away from the front gate
of the U.S. Air Force's Osan Air Base have left her with eyes far too
world-weary for a 24-year-old.
Stripped of her passport by her bar owner, in fear of corrupt South
Korean police and deeply in debt to her new bosses, she was forced to sell
sex to American servicemen. She
became, in essence, a sex slave. Thousands
of Women Forced Into Sexual Slavery For US Servicemen in South Korea Since the mid 1990s, more than
5,000 women have been trafficked
into South Korea for sexual services for United States servicemen, according
to a report from the International Organization for Migration. These
trafficked women have typically come from the Philippines, Russia and Eastern
Europe and were lured to work as prostitutes in bars frequented by US
servicemen stationed in South Korea.
Many of these women live a life similar to that of a slave as they are
kept from a regular income, live in horrible conditions, are forced to sell
sex, and often face violence. "Hidden fees, charges, employer fines,
forced savings and other fees often completely deprive these women of
salaried income forcing them to sustain themselves on a commission system
based on the sale of drinks, and can virtually turn them into indentured
servants," the report reads. Accusations
of USFK "Unwittingly" Aiding Human trafficking There were rising concerns over
human trafficking that the military may be unwittingly supporting by their
patronage of bars that support prostitution. The investigation about whether
U.S. troops have participated in or given business to the human trafficking
industry was requested by 13 members of Congress in 2002. U.S. MILITARY PATROLS IN S. KOREA
OFTEN DON'T RECOGNIZE INSTANCES OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING - U.S. soldiers visiting brothels
may have encouraged sex slavery in South Korea because of a lack of
understanding about human trafficking, the Defense Department's inspector
general concluded in a report.
Investigator Joseph E. Schmitz found that military patrols were
sometimes overly friendly with bar owners and often didn't report cases of
sex slavery and prostitution because of a misperception that they could only
report them if they had hard evidence. As a result of the investigation,
U.S. military officials in South Korea have made an additional 26
establishments suspected of being involved in prostitution and human
trafficking off-limits to U.S. servicemen. They also have increased
educational efforts for all service members on how to spot instances of human
trafficking. The report recommended
that the military create a standardized human trafficking curriculum; make
improvements to on-base entertainment and recreational facilities; and
continue coordination efforts with South Korean law enforcement officials. Korea
is a Center of Human trafficking Korea itself is a center of human
trafficking. However, it has enjoyed shifting the spotlight to the American
military, in order to divert attention from itself. The Koreans have allowed
the Americans to stew and only act when forced to due to complaints from
abroad. In fact, in 2000 the U.S. Congress condemned Korea as a human
trafficker, though in 2004 it praised Korea's efforts to "attempt"
to change. "The women are here because
they've been tricked," he says, nonchalantly. "They're told they're
going to be bartending or waitressing, but once they get here, things are
different," he adds, with a knowing look. The fact that the women may have been
forced into prostitution doesn't seem to bother most of their
soldier-patrons. Nor, until recently, did it bother the military brass at the
bases. But now a U.S. Senator and 12 members of Congress are demanding
action. Alarmed by a Fox Television news report casing brothels where
trafficked women were allegedly forced to prostitute themselves to G.I.s, the
lawmakers sent a letter to the Pentagon in May, asking for an investigation. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use |
|
Human Trafficking in [South Korea Street Children in [South Korea] [other countries]Child Prostitution in [South Korea] [other countries]