By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Police Thursday arrested a Korean man on suspicions of pimping foreign prostitutes at a hotel in Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said it rounded up a total of 24 people, including 15 foreign prostitutes, four customers and the hotel's owner, identified as Song. Of them, the 49-year-old pimp, identified as Kim, was arrested. The prostitutes were mostly from China, Uzbekistan and Thailand.

According to the police, Kim opened a brothel beneath a tourist hotel in Dobong-gu, northeastern Seoul, in January. In about one month of operation, Kim reaped more than 240 million won ($154,000) in illegal gains by providing women for sex to customers for about 130,000-140,000 won ($83-90) per session. The hotel's owner allowed Kim to exclusively use the building's fifth floor.

During questioning, the prostitutes said they landed here on Kim's promise of earning more than $6,000 monthly, but it was confirmed that Kim paid them nothing and even assaulted those who resisted.

The immigration office plans to deport the foreigners soon and ask police to widen their investigation into other suspicious cases.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr