I just have little sympathy for these bar owners complaining about the fact that USFK has eaten way at their juicy girl model which at one time brought them huge profits:
An association of bar owners in Pyeongtaek held a press conference at Pyeongtaek City Hall on June 7 to outline their problems. / Yonhap
Pyeongtaek has embraced U.S. Army Garrison Camp Humphreys on its soil for many years. And under a relocation plan, more U.S. troops ― the 8th Army headquarters and the 2nd Infantry Division ― will move into the city by 2017, making Pyeongtaek a centerpiece of Seoul-Washington military ties.
All appears to be peaceful and harmonious there. But just beneath the surface of the relationship is growing anger toward the United States Forces Korea (USFK).
While massive construction work for the relocation is under way, the U.S. military in the region has been blamed for prejudicing local business owners’ sovereignty and hurting their livelihoods with what they call “off-limits” action. (………)
“The current off-limits restrictions clearly infringe on our sovereignty and autonomy,” an official surnamed Park, from the Pyeongtaek branch of the Korea Foreigner Tourist Facility Association (KFTFA), told The Korea Times.
Park said bars have been declared off-limits without warning. The regulation takes effect right after the owners receive a written notice from the U.S. military that briefly explains the reasons for the ban. The owners are not provided with further evidence or details of what provoked the order.
In addition, there is no route to confirm the validity of incidents because “off-limits” are issued based on anecdotal evidence provided by service members or military police of the USFK. This is why bar owners are calling it “absurd.” [Korea Times]
You can read much more about the bar owner complaints at the link, but the argument that their sovereignty is being violated is ridiculous. They can have all the juicy girls and prostitution they want in their business. USFK isn’t telling them how to run their business. However, USFK is under no obligation to allow its servicemembers to patronize such establishments. Putting businesses off limits to servicemembers is not something that is only done in Korea; in fact in the United States each US military installation has a list of businesses that are off limits to servicemembers as well.
Unsurprisingly the Korean bar owners are unhappy with USFK’s decision to bar troops from buying drinks inside of bars for juicy girls:
A month-old U.S. Forces Korea policy banning servicemembers from buying drinks for “juicy bar” workers in exchange for companionship has angered some bar owners, who say it unfairly labels them as “pimps” and is hurting other establishments that cater to troops.
“It’s nonsensical to treat us as if we are whorehouses,” said Yi Hun-hui, owner of the Cadillac Club near Camp Humphreys. Now, he said, some local bar owners are talking about going into a different line of work because they’re angry at the military. “These were people who liked USFK. They were people who supported USFK, and now they’re embarrassed.” (………..)
The organization’s Pyeongtaek branch already has asked for support from the city mayor and National Assembly members. It is collecting signatures on a petition from businesses, local citizens and civic groups throughout the city, he said. That petition will be sent to U.S. military officials on the peninsula later this month.
Yi, who employs seven Filipina women, said he ordered his female workers to wear jeans and T-shirts instead of skirts and low-cut tops after the Oct. 15 policy letter was issued.
“I did this so USFK would stop its narrow-minded view that our female employees are hookers,” he said.
It was unclear how or whether the new policy was affecting business for other bar owners. Five claimed the policy change was driving down sales for others, though all of those interviewed denied that their own bars had been hurt by the ban.
Lee Deok Bum, said business hasn’t dropped in recent weeks at Sportsman, his 15-year-old bar in Dongducheon, which employees five Filipina women, but he said he and other bar owners in the city are angry about the new USFK rule. He accused the U.S. military of judging South Korean bars by American cultural standards, not by what is acceptable in Korea.
Some bar owners have complained the new policy is unclear and appears to ban servicemembers from buying drinks for anyone, even friends. The policy letter, however, bans only buying drinks and other items for an “employee’s company or companionship, inside or outside a bar or establishment.”
An official at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said the ministry has received no complaints about the new policy from bar owners. The ministry began inspecting businesses that hire foreign entertainers, including some outside U.S. military bases, earlier this year in an effort to reduce human trafficking.
Seo In Ho, owner of Xanadu bar outside Osan Air Base, said most bar owners have interpreted the new policy to mean their USFK clientele can’t buy drinks — even water — for anyone else. One of his friends, a male servicemember, now tells Seo that he can’t even buy the bar owner a drink, and Seo said the ban on buying drinks for companionship is discouraging troops from going to bars at all.
He said all bar owners are being treated as if they are running brothels, and some women who work at bars are quitting because they feel like they’re being treated as prostitutes.
“Our self-respect has been hurt,” he said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, for the bar owner complaining about USFK using American cultural standards to judge the bars, he is absolutely right. However, USFK has to worry about what is going on back in the US and what Koreans find acceptable is irrelevant when the US military is being routinely criticized by special interest groups. That is what likely drove the change in policy for USFK since the special interests were gearing up to go after them over the juicy girl issue.
Also I find it hard to feel sorry for these shady juicy bar owners who have been ripping off GIs for years with the juicy girl business model and over priced drinks. With that said I still think USFK should have at least given these bar owners a carrot by making the new policy stipulate that bars that employ third country nationals would be put off limits due to human trafficking concerns. This would leave the bar owners with the option of employing Korean women which would be much more difficult for USFK to be accused of supporting human trafficking with. I am surprised though that these bar owners have not come up with workarounds to this policy yet instead of complaining to the Stars & Stripes.
Via the USFK website I was able to get a copy of the actual policy letter signed by USFK commander General Scaparrotti. Here is the text of the policy letter:
HEADQUARTERS, UNITED STATES FORCES KOREA
UNIT #15237
APO AP 96205-5237
15 Oct 2014
FKCC
MEMORANDUM FOR SEE DISTRIBUTION
SUBJECT: United States Forces Korea
(USFK) Command Policy Letter #12, Combating Prostitution and Trafficking in Persons (CTIP)
1. This policy applies to all military personnel assigned or attached permanently, on temporary duty, or on rotational duty in Korea, and to USFK units or organizations supported by USFK units. Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employees and DoD-invited contractors/technical representatives, family members of military, DoD civilians, DoD contractors, and visiting guests are encouraged to follow this order.
2. DoD policy condemns practices that subjugate, enslave, and demean individuals, including prostitution and human trafficking. Prostitution and the patronizing of a prostitute are crimes in the Republic of Korea (ROK) and are punishable under the UCMJ. Trafficking in Persons is also illegal under Korean and United States law.
3. There are establishments outside our installations that support human trafficking , usually of young women, many of whom are brought into the country under false pretenses as entertainers and forced to work in bars or other establishments in violation of their visas. They are subjected to debt bondage and made to sell themselves as companions, or forced into prostitution.
4. Service members are often encouraged to buy overpriced “juice” drinks in exchange for the company of these women, or to pay a fee to obtain the company of an employee who is then relieved of their work shift (commonly referred to as “bar-fining” or “buying a day off”). The governments of the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the Republic of the Philippines have linked these practices with prostitution and human trafficking.
5. Installation commanders have the authority to put off-limits those establishments that engage in activities detrimental to readiness, good order, and discipline and I expect them to exercise that authority, particularly as it applies to establishments that support prostitution and human trafficking. I also expect service members to respect the dignity of others at all times. Paying for companionship directly supports human trafficking and is a precursor to prostitution. This practice encourages the objectification of women, reinforces sexist attitudes, and is demeaning to all human beings. Preventing service members from supporting human trafficking and prostitution outside our installations helps ensure the highest levels of readiness, promotes good order and discipline, and provides for the health, welfare and safety of our personnel and community.
6. Military personnel subject to this order shall not provide money or anything of value to an employee or establishment for the primary purpose of obtaining an employee’s company or companionship, inside or outside a bar or establishment. This includes paying a fee to play darts, pool, or to engage in other entertainment with an employee, or buying a drink or souvenir in exchange for an employee’s company. Service members who fail to comply with the provisions of this paragraph may be subject to punishment under the UCMJ, adverse administrative personnel action, and/or other adverse actions authorized by applicable laws and regulations.
This paragraph supersedes USFK Regulation 27-5, paragraph 8-6, dated 7 July 2011, until amended to conform to this policy letter.
7. If any member of USFK observes this conduct or sees indicators of prostitution or human trafficking, they should immediately contact their local law enforcement desk or the USFK Prostitution and Human Trafficking Hotline at DSN 736-9333 or Comm 0505-336-9333.
8. Questions concerning this policy should be directed to your servicing legal office or USFK/JA at DSN 723-7349 or Commercial 050-5333-7349.
//ORIGINAL SIGNED//
CURTIS M. SCAPARROTTI
General, U.S. Army
Commander
DISTRIBUTION:
A References.
a. DoD Instruction 2200.01, Combating Trafficking in Persons (CTIP), 15 September 2010
b. USFK Command Policy Letter #1, Zero Tolerence Policy, 2 January 2014
Fortunately General Scaparrotti did try and pull a LaPorte and make this policy applicable to DoD civilians, contractors, and dependents. It only applies to soldiers. This does beg the question of how this will be enforced. A juicy bar is still going to have a bunch of non-servicemembers buying drinks for juicy girls and some of them may look military. So will the CPs demand ID of everyone they see that may look military? That is asking for trouble to happen. Fortunately the vast majority of soldiers being professionals will comply with the policy letter, but there will assuredly be those who will try and get around it.
The policy letter also tries to capture all the work-arounds the juicy bars might use to get around this policy. For example the policy letter bans paying for darts and pool in exchange for time with juicy girls. A couple of work-arounds I do not see it covering would be a cover fee to enter the bar. What if a bar owner charges servicemembers $50 to enter the bar that has juicy girls in it? The job of the juicy girl would then be to wait outside the bar and try to get servicemembers to come inside. Or how about the bar owner charging inflated drink fees for servicemembers? So instead of the juicy girl trying to get the servicemember to buy her drinks, her job becomes to get the servicemember to buy drinks for himself. If the servicemember does not buy a drink for himself then she moves on to the next customer.
This is just a couple of ways I could see the bar owners subverting the policy which they will assuredly try and do. It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but I think USFK has effectively gotten out ahead of the special interest groups back in the US that were looking to use the juicy girl issue to bash the US military with. This new policy letter pretty much prevents whatever sensationalism on this issue they had planned even if the bar owners try to implement work-arounds.
Considering all the attention given to sexual assault and sexual harassment in the military it was only a matter of time before USFK did this because if they didn’t one of the activist groups would have exploited this issue to bash USFK with:
U.S. Forces Korea has banned servicemembers from buying drinks for workers in “juicy bars,” which have long been suspected of involvement in prostitution and human trafficking.
While the military has maintained a zero tolerance policy toward both practices and some commands have taken their own steps to shutter juicy bars, the prohibition on buying “juice” in exchange for female company is USFK’s latest country-wide effort to close the establishments, which used to cluster by the dozen outside some bases.
“Paying for companionship directly supports human trafficking and is a precursor to prostitution,” USFK commander Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti wrote in an Oct. 15 policy letter announcing the change. “This practice encourages the objectification of women, reinforces sexist attitudes, and is demeaning to all human beings.” [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link, but like I have always said the easiest thing to have done was to put all juicy bars with third country nationals in them off limits. It is much harder to human traffic Korean women when they understand the culture, language, and do not have to worry about having passports held from them. This latest ban pretty much has the same effect. It will be interesting to see what new business model the juicy bar owners come up with to get money from troops. Anyone have any ideas?
Via a reader tip comes this CNN video about the alleged sexual slavery of ‘juicy girls’ in Korea:
Anyone who has spent time in Korea knows that this video report does not describe the whole issue with the juicy girls in Korea. I am not going to speak to whether or not the woman in the video knew what she was getting herself into, but I am willing to bet the vast majority of the girls in the Philippines do know what they were getting themselves into coming to Korea. Just Google “Philippines hostess Korea” and a number of articles about juicy girls comes up. Additionally CNN made no mention of the fact that most of these girls go to work in Korean bars. This is hardly just a US military issue that CNN chose to focus on. Heck trafficking Filipinas is not even just a Korea issue. So why did CNN focus on just the US military? Could it be because just as I suspected they would the special interests using the juicy girls to push the military sexual assault issue? That is why I believe USFK officials have been especially proactive about trying to change the juicy bar system this year. However, I continue to maintain that USFK should just put clubs that hire third country nationals off limits which would largely end the criticism.
The Songtan Entertainment District outside Osan Air Base has been declared off-limits for 18 hours every day starting Friday because of planned protests by area club owners over the decision to prohibit servicemembers from frequenting a half-dozen bars found to be promoting prostitution.
The entertainment district is to be off-limits from 11 a.m. to 5 a.m.
“This action is necessary to ensure the safety and welfare of military and civilian personnel and family members, and to avert incidents and provocations detrimental to the alliance between the United States and Republic of Korea,” said a statement posted on Facebook and attributed to the installation command.
Songtan is home to dozens of so-called “juicy bars” where primarily Philippine women are employed as hostesses, flirting with servicemembers and trying to get them to buy them expensive juice drinks.
While flirting is as far as things go at some juicy bars, others are notorious for forcing their hostesses to prostitute themselves when they fall short of drink-sale quotas.
A spokeswoman for the 51st Fighter Wing command said the bar owners’ association has said that between 50 and 150 supporters will protest for as many as 30 days.
“To ensure the safety and welfare of our service members, the Songtan Entertainment District will be temporarily placed off-limits for the duration of the protests,” said a release from the command. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read the rest at the link, but the S&S had to of course once again make the claim that the juicy girls are forced to prostitute themselves. This may have been true over a decade ago, but now the vast majority of the juicy girls know exactly what they are getting into when they come to Korea. With that said what is happening may be a reaction to the fact that the special interests have been looking to go after the US military bases overseas for promoting human trafficking. Remember what Anu Baghwati from SWAN said recently:
At bases overseas, there’s commercial exploitation of women thriving around them, women being trafficked,” she said. “You can’t expect to treat women as one of your own when, in same breath, you as a young soldier are being encouraged to exploit women on the outside of that base.”
Now that they have lost the sexual assault fight the special interests need to do something else in the meantime to go after the military and whats better than to demagogue the juicy girl issue? So the Osan AB leadership may be trying to get these clubs to clean up their act. The rumor mill though has been suggesting that these guys were supposedly brought on base and interrogated in way the bar owners thought was inappropriate. Then you add in last year’s Osan Handcuff Incident as well as past incidents such as the Osan Shakedown Scandal and guess things have finally boiled over.
A ROK Head was kind enough to send me pictures of the various banners that the business owners have strung up around the Songtan ville in response to what they believe is the heavy handedness of the Osan AB leadership:
Just to show that this type of thing is not limited to Osan, a couple of years ago business owners in Pyeongtaek were making the same complaints about the leadership “tyranny” at Camp Humphreys. Even before that I can remember when they hung a banner outside Camp Humphreys saying “Commander Michael J. Taliento Jr., You go back to Afghanistan again”. Colonel Taliento who was the post commander at the time cracked down on the human trafficking and underage drinking going on outside the post at the time which caused much anger with the locals back then. So what is going on now is nothing new and it is going to be interesting to see which side wins out on this issue.
