U.S. faults trafficking of women by Korea

More South Korean men have been going to other countries to have sex with children, according to the latest U.S. State Department report.
Korea has also continued to send women overseas to work as prostitutes, while bringing women here for the same purpose, the report said. It also criticized Korea for brokered marriages with women in other countries.
The annual report, released Tuesday in Washington, criticizes countries other than the United States.
Although Korea was ranked in the top tier overall for a lower level of trafficking, “South Korean men are a significant source of demand for child sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands,” the report said, citing growing concerns that Korean men are traveling to China, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand and other Southeast Asian destinations to engage in sex with children.
The report said no travelers from Korea had been prosecuted for sexually exploiting children during the April 2006 to March 2007 reporting period.
Han Jeong-jin, a public affairs official with South Korea’s Justice Ministry, said yesterday the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office has intensively cracked down on the sex trade, but no official data exist on people prosecuted in the sex trade overseas.
The report also criticized brokered marriages here. It included a photo of a billboard in Korea that said, “Vietnamese ― They Don’t Run Away! ―International Marriage Specialist.”
South Korean men who are unable to find spouses often turn to such international marriages through brokers, the report said. It said Korea has taken few actions to curtail or punish the exploitation of women by marriage brokers.
South Korea was called a source country for the trafficking of women internally and to other countries. Women from Russia, China, the Philippines and other countries are also trafficked here for sexual exploitation, the report said.

By Ser Myo-ja Staff Writer [myoja@joongang.co.kr]