Here is more on the GI crime front from this weekend. U.S. Army WTF Moments is reporting not only about the vehicle theft last weekend, but also an officer soliciting a prostitute. Times have definitely changed because 20 years ago this was a normal weekend in the ville:
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service is one of the suspects of who was the overall mastermind of a prostitution ring that specialized in servicing people who work for the government or defense industry:
The two brothels in Virginia (referred to in the affidavit as ‘Target Locations 8 and 9’) were situated in Unit 245 at the Avalon Mosaic in the quiet suburban town of Fairfax and Unit 649 of the nearby Hanover Tysons
Intelligence experts are becoming increasingly convinced that six high end brothels in the suburbs of Boston and Washington, D.C. were set up by a foreign nation as an espionage ‘honeytrap’.
They believe the brothels – allegedly masterminded by a 41-year-old South Korean woman – targeted politicians, high ranking government officials and defense contractors.
But the mystery is which country was behind the scheme. Russia, China, Korea itself, or even Israel are al seen as possibly being behind the scheme.
‘Having the Koreans out front could have been a false flag to give China or another country plausible deniability if the plot unraveled,’ a one-time CIA senior operations officer told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview.
Considering how stupid the people going to this brothel are they probably shouldn’t be working any where near the government:
Aspiring clients had to submit a membership application before they could book an appointment.
Required documentation included government-issued ID, phone and email contacts, employer information and credit card records, according to court records.
Bizarrely, numerous political, military and business officials provided it all without blinking an eye and proceeded to have sex in an apartment that for all they knew was outfitted with equipment to record video and audio footage.
‘Finding idiots like this would be pure gold for an intelligence service running a honeypot,’ said the retired foreign spy.
A retired CIA senior operations officer was equally flabbergasted.
‘This is at the level of a Nigerian prince scam,’ she said.
You can read much more at the link, to include a number of pictures of the prostitutes. Judging by the pictures these were some high-end Korean prostitutes working for this ring. Would China be able to recruit this many South Korean women to work for them? It seems more likely that the ROK NIS would be able to pull this off and according to the article ROK intelligence has attempted honeypot operations in the past to collect intelligence. It will be interesting if we will ever hear who was actually behind this honeypot operation.
The former police officer interviewed for the article believes budgetary constraints are stopping a crackdown on prostitution in South Korea; I think it is more like a lack of will of wanting to crackdown hard on it:
Prostitution is illegal in Korea. The country’s ban on the sex trade was introduced in March 2004 and went into effect later that year.
Despite nearly two decades of law enforcement, the nation still has brothels and red-light districts operating at night in almost all big cities and provinces, albeit at a somewhat diminished scale.
Before the introduction of the Special Law on Sex Trade in 2004, there were 35 red-light districts nationwide, according to figures compiled by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. The number declined to 15 in 2021. Gyeonggi Province has four, Seoul, Busan and other provincial cities have at least one or two each. About 900 women are involved in prostitution for a living in those areas, according to ministry data, although a far larger number of people are believed to be part of that profession in other parts of the country that operate under the radar of law enforcement.
Kim Kang-ja, a retired police officer best known for her role behind the crackdown of a major red-light district in Seoul when she was head of Jongam Police Station in the early 2000s, said the remaining red-light districts are a chilling reminder of a policy failure driven by budgetary constraints.
The old trick them into prostitution strategy is alive and well:
A Queens couple faces sex trafficking charges for tricking two South Korean women into prostitution by helping them pay for their travel and offering them a restaurant job in the U.S. (…….)
One of the victims answered an ad she found in South Korea in 2015 promising her a job in the U.S. and travel expenses paid by her employers, according to the Astoria Post. As part of their agreement, her employers required her to pay the $10,000 they used for transportation and her passport fees. Jung Ja picked up the victim at the John F. Kennedy Airport in New York and brought her to an address in Steinway Street, Astoria. However, the deal suddenly changed, and she informed her that she would work as a prostitute to pay off her debt to the Ornsteins. The suspects allegedly forced her to have sex with strangers at the address.
I can only imagine how many people must have been exposed to the AIDS virus from this sex worker:
An illegal immigrant in her 40s, who worked at a massage parlor in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, was diagnosed with AIDS just days before she died of pneumonia and other complications April 3.
The woman was hospitalized March 26 and diagnosed with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) April 1, according to the public health centers in Pohang, Tuesday.
She reportedly visited Seoul and Busan for treatment.
Police investigated the massage parlor and its customers. But health officials and police are struggling to establish how many people she had sexual contact with.
I have a hard time seeing these sex robots causing a decrease in sex crimes and prostitution any time soon in South Korea, but some people think they will:
The head of Harmony, a sex robot / Courtesy of Realbotix
Sex robot “brothels” have emerged as a potentially lucrative business as sex doll manufacturers offer more sophisticated, individually tailored models, thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies.
With many shops that offer sex with these robots popping up in Europe and Canada, some technology pundits here are cautiously suggesting Korea may have to deal with this controversial issue in the near future.
Advocates say sex with robots can reduce the need for sex workers and help disabled people enjoy the same sexual pleasure as others do, in the privacy of their own room.
But opponents argue that sex robots cannot replace women and they will dehumanize the relationship between men and women. (…………..)
Sex robots are banned from import to Korea. Under article 234 of the customs law, goods that disrupt the constitutional order, disturb public safety and order or corrupt morals shall not be exported or imported.
However, it is possible to purchase life-size sex dolls online here. Also, sex dolls made by local firms are available on the internet. While it is illegal to import or export sex dolls, there are no laws that forbid manufacturing and selling the dolls here.
While sex robots are still legally unavailable here, experts say possibilities are open for Korea to allow “robot prostitution.”
“The positive aspect of sex robots is that they will help decrease the number of women who sell sex illegally,” said Kang Dong-woo, director at the Korean Institute for Sexual and Couple’s Health (KISCH). The KISCH is a private clinic for sex counseling in Seoul.
“It is no secret that there are many men who use prostitution services. Prostitution is available everywhere here through the internet. In such circumstances, I think chances are open for the country to introduce robot prostitution in the near future as it can reduce sex crimes and illegal prostitution,” Kang said. [Korea Times]
I think you can put this in the poor excuse department;
Former Navy Cmdr. Troy Amundson, right, is seen here speaking with members of the Philippine navy in Subic Bay in 2010.
In an email arranging to hand off proprietary Navy information to the flamboyant contractor Leonard Francis, Navy Cmdr. Troy Amundson described himself as “a small dog just trying to get a bone.”
Later that night, Francis procured the services of several prostitutes from Mongolia for Amundson, prosecutors say, just one in a string of bribes that Francis paid for leaked military data.
On Friday, Amundson was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He joins the ranks of more than a dozen other Navy officials whose military service is now tarnished with felony records for getting cozy with Francis in what has become the worst corruption scandal to hit the Navy in decades.
Amundson, a decorated combat pilot, told the judge that, at the time, he didn’t realize what he was doing was illegal. The ship schedules laying out port visits in Southeast Asia that he passed on to Francis weren’t classified and were regularly given to contractors, his lawyers said. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but like the judge in this case I find it hard to believe that this naval commander did not know accepting prostitutes in return for information was illegal.
Another year and yet another article claiming the at Filipinas working in bars in South Korea were tricked into working there. In today’s age of the Internet a simple Google search can inform Filipinas what they are potentially signing up for by applying for one of these visas. What is ironic this article from the Korea Times is very similar to one written in 2012 by the Korea Times and they are still saying these girls don’t know what they are getting into coming to South Korea on these visas:
A Durebang agent talks with women in prostitution at a juice bar in an entertainment district near USFK Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province. Courtesy of Durebang
Bargirls, mostly Filipinas, working in the entertainment district near United States Forces Korea’s Camp Casey in Dongducheon hardly go a day without alcohol. With bars opening after 6 p.m. and not closing until the last patrons leave, usually in the early morning, the girls treat customers to whatever they want ― from canoodling and lap dancing to oral sex. Some customers suggest heading out for the night-off, which is not so good for the girls, but good for the bar owners because a customer must pay a bar fine to take out a bargirl.
These migrant women’s desperate business depends on about 2,000 soldiers from the camp, about 60 kilometers north of Seoul. The soldiers’ curfew is 11:30 p.m., previously 1:00 a.m. When they return to camp, migrant workers replace them, but there are not so many.
Job agencies have told the bargirls, working with a Hotel and Adult Entertainment Visa, or E-6-2 visa, they would find work as singers, with most of the girls unaware they would end up in red light bars.
“There are about 200 foreigners in prostitution working at some 70 clubs in Dongducheon,” Joyce Kim from Durebang, a NGO dedicated to helping bargirls working near USFK camps, told The Korea Times. Having watched over the migrants for more than five years, she said bargirls, some of whom are Russians, live above the bars with only one day off every month. The visa allows them to stay in Korea for two years if they do not quit and keep their working contracts valid.
The bars are owned and managed by Koreans, who do not hesitate to threaten the girls and push them to earn more money, forcing them to work through until as late as 10 a.m. This affects their girls’ health, including their menstruation cycle.
Bargirls are paid based on a monthly quota. All Dongducheon bars use this system, which requires the bargirls to collect 300-350 points every two weeks.
“Otherwise the bar owners cannot earn enough,” Kim said. “Owners use points to humiliate the girls with poor sales records by comparing them to girls who earn more points.”
The system works like this: a $10 glass of “juice” that a girl sells to patrons is worth one point. To complete the quota, each girl must sell $3,000-$3,500 worth of juice in two weeks. If girls reach their quota, they get paid a bonus called “drink back” worth around $300-$350 in addition to their regular monthly wage of 400,000 won ($354). [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but every USFK soldier knows that participating in prostitution is illegal and has extreme consequences if caught. This is not a USFK problem, this is a South Korea problem. If South Korea really wants to stop the human trafficking of Filipinas they should just end the entertainment visas for them.
This is ruling about prostitution outside US military bases is nothing new and widely known for decades throughout Korea:
Women who were encouraged by the South Korean government to work as prostitutes near US military bases hold a press conference outside of the Seoul High Court in the Seocho neighborhood following a court ruling on their case on Feb. 8. (by Kim Min-kyung, staff reporter)
A court issued a first-ever ruling acknowledging that the Republic of Korea actively justified or encouraged prostitution with the operation of US “military camp towns” for the sake of the military alliance and foreign currency acquisition.“In regarding the right to sexual self-determination of the women in the camp town and the very character of the plaintiffs as represented through their sexuality as means of achieving state goals, the state violated its obligation to respect human rights,” the court concluded, ordering the payment of compensation to all 117 plaintiffs.
Hon. Judge Lee Beom-gyun of Seoul High Court’s 22nd civil affairs division ruled on Feb. 8 in the case filed by 117 former military camp town prostitutes to demand damages from the state, which was ordered to pay compensation of 7 million won (US$6,370) to 74 of the plaintiffs and 3 million won (US$2,730) to the remaining 43.“According to official Ministry of Health and Welfare documents, [the state] actively encouraged the women in the military camp towns engage in prostitution to allow foreign troops to ‘relax’ and ‘enjoy sexual services’ with them,” the court said.“In the process, [the state] operated and managed the military camp towns with the intention or purpose of contributing to maintenance of a military alliance essential for national security by ‘promoting and boosting morale’ among foreign troops while mobilizing prostitutes for economic goals such as acquisition of foreign currency,” it ruled. [Hankyoreh]
You can read more at the link, but there is some nuance to the ruling in favor of the prostitutes to worked outside of US military base. The court did not find the government liable for forcing them into prostitution, just managing it by forcing them into medical treatment:
But the court did not accept the plaintiffs’ claim that the state had also violated the law by establishing the base village in the first time “to allow prostitution to take place easily.”“It is impossible to conclude that the victims were in a situation where they did not begin engaging in prostitution within the area of their own free will or could not leave,” the court said. [Hankyoreh]
This is important because if the government was found to have forced these women into prostitution than that would allow the Japanese right to say that the ROK government should stop complaining about World War II era comfort women when they had their own comfort women system going. This is technically correct because the ROK government was not grabbing women out of their homes and putting them into clubs.
Many of the prostitutes came from poor families who sold their daughters to the club owners to make ends meet or put a son through college for example. Other became prostitutes in the hope of marrying a GI to escape poverty. However, they ended up in the club system they were effectively managed by the Korean government to not spread disease. They were forcibly given STD treatments and those that were found to be diseased were then forcibly interned. This is where the human rights violations come into play for these women by the state.
Something to keep in mind is that the US military bases were not the only locations with prostitutes. Can prostitutes stationed outside ROK Army bases or even in urban red light districts now sue for damages as well? What about the women brought in from the Philippines beginning in the 1990’s that were forced into prostitution? Can they sue for damages as well?
I can only imagine what the Family Readiness Group (FRG) meetings would have looked like if this soldier’s gangster husband showed up to them:
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang denied bail Wednesday for the accused pimp who federal prosecutors describe as violent and intimidating.
Isaiah McCoy is charged with sex trafficking by force.
Wearing a white, inmate jumpsuit and a belly chain, McCoy did not speak in court, allowing his assistant federal public defender Max Mizono to argue that McCoy is not a danger to the community or a flight risk.
McCoy’s wife, Army Sgt. Tawana Roberts, also remains at the federal detention center. Her bond hearing is scheduled for Jan. 24.
The couple was arrested on Jan. 3 by police in an undercover prostitution sting at a Waikiki hotel.
One of the pieces of evidence being used against the couple, a Facebook Live video posted two months ago, in which Roberts and McCoy are in a hot tub.
McCoy jokingly asks as he grabs his wife, “How much is this going to cost me?”
Roberts responds: “You already know the going rate for me … five stacks.” That’s slang for $5,000.
But, according to HPD documents obtained by Hawaii News Now, Roberts agreed to take $500 from an undercover officer in exchange for sex acts.
McCoy has been in Hawaii less than a year after he was released from Delaware’s death row.
He married Roberts a few months ago. She is a food service specialist at Schofield Barracks.
McCoy is not allowed on post because of prior convictions for burglary, robbery and drug crimes. [Hawaii News Now]
You can read more at the link, but this McCoy character is quite the walking crime spree. His wife is not much better considering she was arrested working as a prostitute over in Waikiki.
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