"Sexual Encounter Success Right After Meeting?"... Japanese Men's Group Sparks Controversy Over 'Korean Expedition'

Japanese Group "Traveled to Korea... Successfully Targeted Women"
Posted Illegal Photos and Recordings
"Apologies for Poor Management... Claimed It Was for Tourism, Not Meetings"

The Japanese "pickup artist" group "Sutanan Ilga" posted photos last month claiming they were going on a "Korea expedition." [Source=X (formerly Twitter)]

Controversy erupted after it was revealed that dozens of members belonging to a Japanese "pickup artist" group (people who make a profession out of seducing women for the purpose of relationships) traveled to Korea and claimed to have had sexual relations with Korean women.

According to a report by Hankook Ilbo on the 12th, Mr. A, the vice president of the Japanese pickup artist group "Sutanan Ilga," posted on his X (formerly Twitter) on the 17th of last month, "Sutanan Ilga is going on a 'Korea expedition' to target women," adding, "There are as many as 38 participants in this expedition." The group charges men membership fees and teaches them how to seduce women. They invite instructors to teach how to converse with the opposite sex, improve appearance, and take profile photos for social networking services (SNS). It is known that more than 250 people are currently active as trainees.

Some members posted photos and audio recordings presumed to be illegal recordings, boasting "We succeeded in targeting Korean women" after arriving in Korea. Mr. B posted on X on the 22nd of last month, along with a photo of a woman, "The conversation was not smooth because her English was poor, but I eventually won." The next day, he posted an audio file and a photo showing the back of a woman, saying, "I recorded the sounds of sexual intercourse yesterday." Another member, Mr. C, also left a post seemingly bragging, "I had relations as soon as I met a Korean woman." This was not the first time the group went on a "Korea expedition." It was confirmed that Mr. A posted a photo of a woman wearing only underwear last December, saying, "I had relations on the same day I met a gravure (Japanese adult magazine) idol in Korea during the expedition."

As Japanese netizens condemned the incident and spread the posts, the representative of "Sutanan Ilga," Mr. D, posted an apology video on the 3rd. He said, "Some members posted unethical content showing women's faces and bodies, damaging the dignity of Koreans. As the representative, I was negligent in management," and apologized. However, he also claimed, "The Korea expedition was intended for general tourism, not for meetings."