Students Allegedly Buy Sex on School Trip
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The government is to question high school students reported to have bought sex while on a school trip to China, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said Thursday.
Local MBC TV reported Tuesday that some high school students in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, bought sex while on trip to Shandong Province, China, last month. The school went on the five-day trip with 153 male and 151 female students and reportedly 30-40 students were involved in paying for sex.
The camera followed them entering a massage parlor known for prostitution. The students said they received phone calls from those establishments in their hotels. The hotel turned out to be one of the most favored hotels for Korean men on sex and golf tours.
Moreover, teachers were not paying enough attention to their students, it said, though they were paid an additional 200,000 won for taking them to the country. They denied the report. They said the students visited the sauna in question, but it was just for bathing and nothing sexual happened there.
The news stunned many people, especially those with teenage children. They accused the schools and educational offices for letting this happen. One of the parents said she could not stand it because her own son had just been to China for a school trip. She asked everyone concerned to be punished including top officials at the local educational offices and tourist agencies.
The report was initially based on a source complaining about the sex trade that took place on a school trip in Seoul. However, the educational office in Seoul denied the allegation, saying investigations had already been made, but nothing was found.
The educational offices in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province said they would investigate the school trips. They also asked their subordinate schools to refrain from taking students abroad.