Sexual promiscuity has spread in North Korea involving prostitution, adultery, and the making and selling of pornography, according to a news report Sunday.
Although the North regime had thoroughly controlled people’s private lives until the 1990s, this social phenomenon has been rampant with the regime’s power decreasing due to economic difficulties.
“A growing number of women have rushed into prostitution to earn decent money to make a living and for luxuries,” said a close source to North Korea affairs quoting a defector who once lived in North Hamgyeong Province. “Some female students entered into prostitution to purchase cell phones.”
As the act of adultery has become popular, the new term “8ㆍ3 husband and wife,” meaning unlawful relationships, has been created. North Korea leader Kim Jong-il ordered on Aug. 3, 1984, that people should make daily necessities by recycling by-products of factories and companies. According to the source, most of the 8ㆍ3 couples have indulged in drug use, group sex and other sexual practices.
“In several big cities, there are bars where women put on strip shows for government officials,” said another source. “A man was caught in Pyongyang having sexual relations with many other women after taking drugs. Around 100 cases were reported on average annually in the North Korean border city of Sinuiju.”
It is also reported that there have appeared experts who have been making and selling pornographic movies. “An army officer attempted to sell sex videos to Chinese merchants in March but failed. This has resulted in strict and extensive censorship and education,” said a man who was a soldier but defected to the South recently.
Many people want to buy the pornographic material although it is more than 10 times the average monthly wage, which is about 2,000 to 3,000 won. In addition, people can easily purchase the videos because of an underground wholesale and retail network in the communist country.
In the mean time, the North Korean regime revised the criminal law in 2009, saying that a person will be sentenced to labor education for five to 10 years if he or she brings, keeps or spreads pornographic material.