By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
A 47-year-old man, identified as Kim, was arrested for brokering the passage of 57 women to brothels in Japan, the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency said Monday.
Another woman, Jeong, 44, who lives with Kim, was booked without physical detention for violation of the anti-prostitution law.
They ``hired'' the 57 women, mostly former prostitutes, from Dec. 1 to March 31 through an online ad for overseas prostitution and brokered the passage of 49 of them to 13 brothels in Kawasaki, Japan, police said. The remaining eight worked at a brothel run by Kim. They are suspected of having reaped more than 200 million won in illegal gains.
With online ads promising a monthly income of more than 20 million won, they picked 57 after receiving photos of the applicants via e-mail and conducting phone interviews.
Most of them had experience of working at brothels previously, but there was also a housewife and an office worker, according to the police.
``A stronger yen against the dollar and the harsh crackdown on prostitution here are leading to rises in the brokering of prostitutes to Japan."