Author: Lucius Kang
Synopsis:
Han Jeong-o, with help of fellow officers, successfully arrest the illegal prostitutes and the perps; but soon after she finds out that her arrest actually put more female victims of prostitution in danger. O Yang-Chon gets blamed for Yeom Sang-su’s injury and becomes the outcast for not taking care of his trainee in a chase of a criminal suspect. After release of the perps who were involved in illegal prostitution, the entire police department cooperates to successfully arrest the perps, while ensuring safety of the female prostitutes. successfully closing cases does not last long, as Lee Sun-won, Kang Nam-il and Kim Min-seok fail to catch the defrauder of a scam.
Disucssion:
What is prostitution?
Prostitution is the practice of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. While some prostitutes in Canada are criticizing the ones who use the word: prostitute instead of ‘sex worker’ (Ratchford, 2013), the same workforce in Korea still stands as illegal. But does that mean that prostitution doesn’t exist in Korea?
Umm…. NO!
Despite the fact that the South Korean government once promoted sexual entertainment, such as “kisaeng party” as a matter of national policy (Lie, 1995, 317), prostitution, along with abortion is still against the law within the country. Consequently, more services are provided under the table, leaving more sex workers in danger.
Because prostitution is illegal in South Korea, many other crimes also remain silent. In Live, viewers see the frustration of Kang Nam-il and Kim Min-seok to even start an investigation on a case that undoubtedly appeared wrong. Although the victim asked for help initially, because the victim is “worried that people at his school will find out” that he was involved in an illegal prostitution, he refused request of further investigation on the case (ep. 7, 16:58). This portrays how victims, whom are related to sex industry in Korea, believe connections with prostitution is significantly worse than unjust victimizations.
While females dominate the sex industry in Korea, there exists another biological issue: pregnancy and illegal abortion. Abortions are as prohibited as prostitutions. As we have discussed in our lectures, motherly duties are unwelcomed by many employers; indeed, when required to abort the fetus, sex workers abort privately as “prices could range anywhere from 1 to 2 million won” (Narrative, 2011). Han Jeong-o’s inspection of the perps’ abandoned hideout shows site of illegal abortion in South Korea, and also portrays the site as dangerous, dull and dirty. This is the reality of illegal sex workers and how they are at higher risk for their occupations.
Despite the dangerous and dirty work settings, the illegal industry remains stocked up for business. Up to 37 percent of sex workers chose the sex industry to gain financial independence (Lie, 1995, 322). The idea is also demonstrated in Live. As Choi Myeong-ho ensures safety of foreign sex workers, the boss yells “[the female workers] did it because they wanted to” (ep. 8, 17:56). The boss emphasizes to Choi Myeong-ho that the girls became prostitutes of their own accord. It is clear that the perp is taking advantages of the situations of the sex workers.
In episodes 7 & 8 of Live, the screenwriter criticizes the reality of sex industry in Korea, putting emphasis on high risk working conditions, and consequences of negative perception on prostitution and abortion.
Upon the blog discussion, I ask you to consider few questions:
1. Han Jeong-o states that by the arrest of the prostitution boss, she has put more victims in danger (ep. 7 20:50). Do you agree that reporting and arresting suspects put victims in more danger? If so, how else should Korean citizens or Korean government do to help the victims?
2. Live shows some of detrimental consequences of criminalizing prostitution. To what extent can legalization of prostitution become benefits in the sex industry?
3. As demonstrated in Kang Nam-il and Kim Min-seok’s interrogation of prostitution boss and the victim who later asks the case to remain silent on an obvious case, why are people trying to avoid criticism on any connection with prostitution, when in fact they are engaged in it? What does that imply about the culture in Korea, in terms of collectivism vs individualism?
Bibliography:
Lie, John. “The Transformation Of Sexual Work In 20Th-Century Korea.” Gender & Society9, no. 3 (1995): 310-27. doi:10.1177/089124395009003004.
Narrative, T. (2011). Getting an Abortion in Korea. [online] The Grand Narrative. Available at: https://thegrandnarrative.com/2011/09/19/abortion-korea/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2018]
Ratchford, Sarah. “Why Is the Canadian Media Still Referring to Sex Workers as Prostitutes?” Vice. November 21, 2013. Accessed October 12, 2018.
The legalization of prostitution, in my opinion, has no clear result. However, I don’t believe that legalizing sex work would have a negative impact. Like legalizing drug use, it can increase safety by reducing the stigma surrounding it. People may be less encouraged to hide their activities, and if legalized, feel more comfortable to reach out for help. Further, it may also encourage more participation in the activity, which has an ambiguous outcome. While increased engagement in sex work may lead to economic benefits, the field must be radically reformed to be a much safer environment for sex workers. In today’s world, not only is sex work considered taboo, but it is also extremely unsafe. From shoddy medical care to a lack of predictable payment, sex workers are certainly not protected by state institutions, such as the police. With legalization, this may change. But, the change would occur slowly over time, and only yield positive results after the stigma has worn off and the current field is cleaned of its unsafe practices.
I think the reason it has not been legalized is due to the fact that it has such a negative stigma surrounding the field. Legalizing something like this would certainly cause an outcry. But like Lucius was saying, just because there is stigma, it doesn’t mean people aren’t still participating! I think it is time to reconsider the legalization of sex work and acknowledge that there are still a significant number of participants in the field who could benefit from safer practices implemented by legalization. (Word Count: 257)
I believe that one of the main reason to why many people believe that the prostitution is an atrocious act, is because that the prostitution is not legalized. If the prostitution were to become legal, prostitutes would be able to obtain health care. Through health care, they would be able to get examinations for any STD or HIV, examinations for pregnancy, and receive proper abortion. In current society, through media, it is engraved to our brains that prostitution is a vulgar act to commit and it can negatively impact our health. Therefore, by presenting that prostitution is a moral act, not disgusting and that it is safe though media/advertisement, people will have new perception about prostitution. After all, people tend to believe what they see from the reliable sources they trust in. By legalizing, prostitutes would be able to get proper protection, finances, designated area for executing their work and a place to live in with the help from the government or funds from sponsors/organizations. For example, porn stars in Japan get proper health check up, proper procedures for earning money and have sponsors from the company. Also through media, it is shown to people that theses acts are not vulgar and that it is approved from the higher ups. Additionally, there is an area called kabukicho red district in Tokyo, Shinjuku where it is legal for people 19 and up to have legal sex entertainment. Like Japan, I believe that through legalization of prostitution, people will have positive perception about it and also it will give better environment for prostitutes.
I think that reporting and arresting suspects put more victims in danger, especially in South Korea because the victims’ pictures are shown in public easily through Social medias, even though the victims request not to reveal their information. In addition, South Korea government does not show the suspects in public, but the victims’ information is revealed. Also, although the boss is caught, a second boss may exist who can lead another illegal prostitution and may harm the victims who report. To prevent putting victims in danger, Korean citizens do not spread victims’ information online and Korean government needs to keep in secret until the case is done if the case makes victims put in danger.
I do not agree with the legalization of prostitution because I believe that prostitution do not bring positive impacts at all to Korean Society, but rather legalization of prostitution bring negative impacts to Korean Society. However, legalization of prostitution can bring benefits in sex industry. Firstly, if the prostitution is legalized, the sex industry can be supported more from other companies, government, or rich people, so they can afford workers to get sex education which can reduce to have venereal diseases. Also, as Lucius mentioned above, women are dominated in sex industry. Most reason of prostitution is financial problem, so through the prostitution, woman may have a chance to earn a lot of money.
Although, if the legalization of prostitution can bring positive impacts to sex industry, I think that prostitution has more negative impacts than positive impacts, so I think that prostitution should be banned, or if it is legalized, the government should control properly not to be abused.
Lucius,
Minor points that will still help or hurt your grade: 1)Your biblio needs italics. 2) in-text citations should be like this (Smith 2019, 22) not (Smith, 2019, 22). 3) Your Romanization is not consistently RR.
Otherwise I wish you developed your ideas further, as you seem to be scattered between the legality, the side effects (abortion), the reasons women engage in sex work, and the working conditions. Is your argument just that sex work exists in Korea? What exactly is your argument? What sort of things are we learning from this episode or story line of sex work? I found it very interesting A) sex workers are foreigners (statistically not the major case) who may be trafficked and not in Korea legally, B) sex work leads to abortion (most sex workers are presumably using the pill or other means to prevent pregnancy which is FREE and OVER THE COUNTER in Korea). In my opinion someone involved in this story is drama has something to say about abortion, as it comes up not once, twice, three episodes but even more times in the drama. C) The police detective facilitating this trade is the “big evil” — although whoever is keeping the women sort of locked should surely merit some screen time and a few swear words, shouldn’t he/she? D) The whole thing starts off with a violent sexual assault or maybe it was a kinky sex act against an unwilling sex worker– but we never seem to follow up on that aspect of the story (is it not important because they want us to think that she wouldn’t have gotten hurt if she wasn’t part of this business?) …and finally E) sex work occurs all the time without the police doing jack to stop it– would they care in this case if the dirty cop wasn’t connected?
I am not saying I am regretting making this drama an option– I’m not. But at the same time the drama seems to have muddled story telling, a ton of moralizing/beating the audience over the head with messages, and at times it shies away from the truth.
Hey everyone,
This is a difficult topic to discuss, and we haven’t talked about sex work in class just yet. But it’s still possible to extrapolate and see the ways that concepts we already know play into the dynamic that’s on display in this storyline.
The details that you bring up are very important, and they illustrate the way that dominant attitudes and norms significantly impact those who end up in societally marginalized and (thus) unsafe situations. The law is a reflection of attitudes, but does legalization necessarily mean full acceptance? Does receiving protection under the law guarantee one’s acceptance in society, based on the qualifications that give you legal protections? Looking at your perspectives, I personally think we should always put the safety and security of the person first. But that might not be the way Korean lawmakers, who see prostitution and abortion as unwanted societal mores, are thinking.
You didn’t correct the errors I pointed out, even the small and easy ones — however, trying and then fixing errors is how we improve or writing.
When something is illegal, the providers of these illegal services or products make it lucrative for criminals. While legalization of prostitution has its cons, it also carries several benefits that could potentially outweigh the cons. One of these benefit is the decrease of rape. According to a study from UCLA, it was discovered that when Rhode Island decriminalized indoor prostitution, the state saw a 31% decrease in reported rape cases (Hong, 2014). While legalization does raise the controversy that it will lead to an easier gateway for teens and young adults to enter the industry as an easy and quick way to make money, having regulations and governance over this issue could be better as those who will engage in sex work will do it either way. I think it would be better to have safety regulations as well as hygiene checks with legalized sex work. If we can’t stop it, might as well make it safer for everyone.
Hong, S. (2014, August 01). Decriminalizing prostitution linked to fewer STDs and rapes. Retrieved from http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/decriminalizing-prostitution-linked-to-fewer-stds-and-rapes