Students turn to prostitution
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A lady walks down a street in Gangnam, southern Seoul. According to police, some college students have joined the illegal sex business to make money. / Korea Times file
Easy money draws coeds to room salons
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Using an alias, Lee Yeon-hee, a 25-year-old college junior, revealed to The Korea Times that she is currently on a protracted leave of absence from school. What makes her story different from any other student, however, is the fact Lee works at night for a mid-tier “room salon” in southern Seoul.
In conversation, Lee explained that she is no stereotypical bargirl. She is not from a rich family, but has no sick parents to look after and doesn’t have loan sharks breathing down her neck either.
Her job at the salon is to entertain male customers mostly of around her father’s age. Entertaining in this case mainly involves having drinks with them and singing karaoke together. On occasion, she sometimes goes out with them for a “second round”. This is a paid one-night stand; something she admits is done solely to finance her dream.
“I am saving to study abroad,” said Lee.
The fact Lee now works in a salon for a living did not happen by chance.
She first started as a bartender because “My family is not rich so I had to work part time at night.”
“It was really tough to juggle two things every day,” said Lee, so she quit and found a new job at a “karaoke club” where she worked as a helper, singing and dancing with the customers. There, sex wasn’t on the job description.
“I did not have to work every day and was able to focus more on school,” she said.
When Lee became a junior at her school two years ago, she wondered how she could make more money ― working in a salon provided an obvious answer.
“Working for a company is stressful and pays little; that’s if you can even squeeze into the tight job market,” she said.
“I think I can make more money here than most employees at large corporations,” although she declined to say how much exactly she earns.
It is no secret that hostesses make a lot compared with office workers.
Speaking to The Korea Times, a room salon worker, who identified himself as Lee Geun-sung, said that the average monthly salary of hostesses at room salons in Tehran-ro, southern Seoul, can exceed 6 million won ($5,200).
“Recently, more college students have applied to work here,” he said. Lee’s primary role is to help the customers select “partners.”
“Hostesses who serve two or three tables per day could make more than 12 million won ($11,000) per month. I think more students want to become room salon hostesses because the job provides a lot of money in a short period of time,” he added.
Room salons now have reached industrial-sized proportions.
In 2012, the authorities raided YTT, which at that time was considered the nation’s largest room salon, in Nonhyeon-dong, southern Seoul, and arrested its owner and associates, as well as police officers who were bribed by the salon.
YTT had 180 rooms and employed 500 hostesses.
According to a 2007 report by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, about 270,000 women were estimated to work in the sex industry at that time. This figure represented about 3.5 percent of all women here in their 20s and 30s. The report also revealed that total revenue for the industry reached 14 trillion won ($12.7 billion) that year.
The ministry conducted another report in 2010 but refused to release the results, saying it was difficult to collect reliable data because of the evolving nature of the sex trade. Since then no similar report has been released.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of an anti-prostitution law that led to increased police crackdowns against brothels and greater punishments for those who solicit sex.