Subway stations main location for sex trade of runaway youths

One in five youths who run away from home are believed to have experienced some type of sex trade and 90 percent of those apparently occurred in locations with 500 meters of subway stations.

The findings were revealed in a report published by the Ministry of Women and Family Affairs Thursday.

According to the report, a survey of 398 runaway youths in the Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon areas, 19.6 percent engaged in some sort of sex trade. Of them 84.6 percent were girls and 15.4 percent boys.

In the case of students, the rate was 28.1 percent while is was 14.7 percent for those who were not attending school.

Asked about where the sex trade took place, 90 percent of those who answered affirmatively said it was within 500 meters of Seoul Metro subway stations.

Of the locations, 19 were close to the Juan station in Incheon, 10 near Suwan and Bucheon stations, and 16 in the vicinity of the Sillim station in southern Seoul.

Of the locations where the sex activities actually took place, 65.8 percent were in motels, 17.1 percent in karaoke rooms and 6.6 percent in vehicles.