Police said Tuesday that they arrested seven female foreign students, including those attending well-known private universities, on charges of selling sex.
The Yongsan Police Station in Seoul said the students -- teenagers and those in their early 20s -- worked at a bar in Hangangno, Yongsan.
Police plan to seek an arrest warrant for the owner of the bar, only identified by her family name Kwon, 58, for employing the women and making them sell sex, a spokesman said.
Those arrested include four Chinese and one Mongolian. Among them are those enrolled at private universities’ departments of architecture, business administration and Korean literature.
They used to sell sex four or five times a month and shared money they received from their customers with the owner of the bar at a ratio of 50-50, the spokesman said.
Kwon posted an advertisement on the Internet to recruit employees (to sell sex). The ad was to recruit those who wish to work at a bar. Women, who are able to speak Grade-4 Korean, can earn 15,000 won per hour, it said.
Kwon posted another message online to lure foreign women, who wish to buy Korean cosmetic products, such as Sulwhasoo and Ohui, at cheap prices.
jckim@koreatimes.co.kr