Operating Under Delivery Restaurant Sign... Facilitating 18,000 Cases of Prostitution in Gangnam Residential Area
Linked to Massage Parlors
Infiltrating Officetels and Residential Areas for Prostitution... Role Division and Evidence Destruction Prepared
A salad delivery specialty restaurant in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, operated by a prostitution brokerage organization. This group set up a secret office on the second floor, accessible only through the restaurant, to broker prostitution. Photo by Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] A group disguised as a delivery restaurant in a residential alley in Seoul was caught by the police for mediating prostitution. They set up an office with a delivery business sign, which from the outside looked no different from a regular delivery restaurant. There was also a case where an officetel prostitution establishment operating for over a year was uncovered. Additionally, a group running a reservation-based prostitution business in a residential area was caught, and an operator who mediated prostitution through a website and earned hundreds of billions of won in illicit profits was also arrested. Prostitution is evolving secretly and meticulously to evade police crackdowns.
A group and prostitution operators who disguised themselves as a delivery-only restaurant in a residential area of Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and mediated prostitution were arrested en masse by the police. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced on the 4th that they arrested two people, including the organization leader Mr. A and massage parlor owner Mr. B, on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic (Sex Trade Punishment Act), and booked 59 others without detention.
Their crimes were meticulous. To prepare for police crackdowns, they even procured so-called evidence destruction equipment to prepare for a perfect crime. According to the police, Mr. A and others set up an office with a delivery business sign in a residential area of Gangnam from April 2020 and engaged in prostitution advertising and recruitment.
They created 24 blogs and operated a web designer and a 24-hour consultation team to manage them. They operated 22 laptops, 64 burner phones, walkie-talkies, and other equipment necessary for blog management and prostitution operations. They also prepared equipment such as shredders and incinerators to destroy evidence in anticipation of police crackdowns, moving meticulously.
When a client contacted them, they guided them to Mr. B, the owner of a large massage parlor in Gangnam. The mediation fee was 20,000 to 60,000 won per person, and the police confirmed about 18,000 mediation cases. Since May 2019, Mr. B had used a so-called figurehead to prepare for crackdowns. Along with them, the building owner Mr. C who supplied contraceptives to Mr. B’s massage parlor, seven male clients, and 18 women involved in prostitution were also booked without detention.
Prostitution Mediation in Officetels, Residential Areas, and Through Websites
There are more cases of meticulously operated prostitution establishments. On the 2nd, in Ilsan, Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, an officetel prostitution establishment operating for over a year was uncovered by the police. The Northern Gyeonggi Police Department’s Vice Investigation Team arrested four managers of the establishment and detained the owner Mr. D on charges of violating the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Arranging Sexual Traffic. Four other managers were booked without detention.
Mr. D is suspected of renting eight officetel units in Ilsan, Goyang City, from September last year to November this year, operating an illegal prostitution business for 1 year and 2 months. At the time, Mr. D was on the run but was caught on the 28th, about 20 days after fleeing, following police pursuit. The police seized eight mobile phones, three hard disks, and 1.18 million won in cash from Mr. D. They plan to apply for pre-indictment seizure of 300 million won in identified criminal proceeds.
Additionally, a group running a reservation-based prostitution business in a residential area of Seoul was caught by the police. On July 3rd last year, at around 2:40 p.m., the Seocho Police Station arrested four people, including the 50s owner Mr. E, at a prostitution establishment in the basement of a commercial-residential building in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, on charges of violating the Sex Trade Punishment Act.
The establishment had 13 rooms installed. Costumes worn by female hostesses during prostitution were also found. The establishment was found to have advertised on adult websites and accepted reservations online. However, no evidence of actual prostitution at the scene was confirmed, so customers who visited the establishment were not booked.
Earlier, on July 1st of the same year, in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, a group renting one-room apartments in a multi-family residential area to mediate prostitution was also caught by the police. The four members of this group posted advertisements for prostitution establishments on five prostitution websites and operated a prostitution business under the name 'OOO' from October last year to mid-June this year, about eight months.
They divided roles such as interviewing women for prostitution, advertising, customer reservations, and payment management, mediating prostitution to about 30 men daily. It is known that they earned approximately 460 million won in prostitution fees. Meanwhile, in October, many prostitution establishments disguised as massage parlors or skin care centers in commercial buildings in the entertainment districts of Hapjeong-dong, Masanhwoewon-gu, and Naesa-eup, Changwon City, Gyeongnam Province, were also raided by the police.
There was also a case of mediating prostitution by creating a website. The operator of the so-called 'Night War' website was caught in the Philippines on September 22nd. It was two years after the site developer was arrested. The site is known as the largest prostitution mediation site in Korea. The operator ran three prostitution mediation sites including 'Night War' from April 2014 to July 2019, earning about 20 billion won. He was indicted on charges of publicly posting 2,705 obscene videos and mediating and advertising prostitution 1,100 times. The court (Suwon District Court Criminal Division 11, Presiding Judge Kim Yu-rang) sentenced him to three years in prison and ordered the confiscation of 5.08 billion won.
Summarizing the crimes of these prostitution operators, they meticulously operate by infiltrating officetels or residential areas to evade police crackdowns or mediating prostitution through websites.
Experts analyze that prostitution operators take risks and commit crimes because there is clear demand and significant illicit profits in the process. Professor Oh Yoon-sung of Soonchunhyang University (Department of Police Administration) said, "Disguising as a delivery restaurant to mediate prostitution shows how sophisticated related crimes have become."
Professor Oh explained, "In the past, prostitution was done by creating massage parlors, but now they disguise as restaurants. This indicates there is demand. This phenomenon itself suggests that prostitution crimes are evolving and diversifying throughout our society."
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