By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The prolonged economic slump is driving more teenagers out on the streets to sell sex, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Thursday.
The ministry's Central Inspection Bureau enforced a crackdown on the online teenage sex trade between July and December last year and found the number of teenagers caught nearly doubled to 69 from 36 six months ago.
Among those caught was a 17-year-old Lee, whose family defected from North Korea. Lee said she sold sex online to make money. She was living with her family. It is not only ``girls gone wild'' who get involved in prostitution, bureau chief Park Eun-jung said.
While prostitution stemmed mostly out of curiosity six months ago, this time, teenagers have to sell sex ``to make ends meet,'' Park said. About 44 percent said they needed the money to make a living while 38.2 percent did it to get cash for entertainment.
About 74.5 percent of teenagers caught said they were paid more than 100,000 won ($75) per assignment, more than they could have made at ordinary jobs. ``It shows that teenagers are easily lured by the amount of money they can make amid the economic downturn,'' Park said.
Others sold sex for shelter, according to the report. A 23-year-old Kim had sex with a 15-year-old Park and after learning that she'd run away from home and didn't have a place to stay, kept her at his house for nine months and forced her to sleep with two other men for money. Park said she was sexually abused by the man but could not resist because she was afraid of being thrown out.
Bureau chief Park said economic hardship is harming families and more teenagers are running away from home and getting involved in such activities. Moreover, those who run away from home once are more likely to run away again after being sent home, she said.
``Experts say it is very difficult to get a girl who has sold sex to more than 100 men to go back to ordinary schoolgirl life. The government should pay attention to returning teenagers who have just ran away from home through counseling and therapy,'' she said.
The bureau has caught 193 runaway teenagers, 69 of whom were involved in prostitution, along with 47 adults who paid for sex with them. The bureau has also apprehended three pimps and owners of 56 brothels employing teenagers.
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