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'Not one of these new homes is mine': Women left behind by Seoul's red-light district closures
A high-rise apartment complex stands in Gangdong District, Seoul, April 21. The area once housed one of Seoul's largest red light districts before its closure in 2020 and subsequent redevelopment. Korea Times photo by Park Ung
By Park Ung
Redevelopment turns brothels into high-rises, but offers no clear path for sex workers
A towering high-rise apartment complex rises over a strip of restaurants, clinics and cafes, just a 10-minute walk from Cheonho Station in Seoul's Gangdong District.
Park, 46, who asked to be identified only by her surname, remembers a different place. She spent the last eight years of her life there as a sex worker in the area, which was home to more than 200 brothels at its peak before being shuttered in 2020 and redeveloped into the complex that stands today. Cheonho-dong once housed one of Seoul's best-known red-light districts, along with Miari Texas in Seongbuk District and Cheongnyangni 588 in Dongdaemun District.
“I'd look at the map now and think, that was my room, there used to be a corner store there,” Park told The Korea Times. “I thought to myself, all these new homes going up and not one of them is mine.”
Displaced, not freed
Prostitution was first criminalized in Korea in 1961, but enforcement was significantly strengthened with the enactment of the Special Act on Prostitution in 2004. Under this law, people who buy sex can face up to one year in prison or fines of up to 3 million won ($2,049), while brothel operators can be sentenced to up to seven years in prison or fined up to 70 million won.
Even after the enforcement of the special act, some red-light districts continued business. But the size and numbers of "customers" were reduced amid changing public awareness about prostitution and emergence of online channels to buy sex. The Seoul Metropolitan Government's push for redevelopment of major red-light districts since the early 2000s also gained traction.
In March, Miari Texas was closed for good after 70 years, and large-scale redevelopment is already underway. With it went the last of Seoul's best-known red-light districts; Cheongnyangni's had been the first, with demolition beginning in the mid-2000s and a 65-story residential tower now standing in its place.
The red-light districts are gone, but the women who worked in them were given little to no assistance in the wake of redevelopment. Those who lived through the closures and the people trying to help them say the demolitions offered them no fresh start.
After Cheonho-dong closed, Park moved to a brothel in Yeongdeungpo District, then to Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province before moving again to an adult entertainment venue in Songpa District, continuing to work in the trade for roughly three more years.
Most of the women she knew didn't fare any better.
“A few who had saved enough money opened cafes or small beauty parlors, but most either got caught soliciting on the side or went out of business and ended up back in the trade,” Park said.
Kim Hyo-jeong, a social worker at Sonya's House, a support center for sex workers, said that right after the 2020 closure, many relocated to other red-light districts still operating in cities like Suwon in Gyeonggi Province. As those districts have since shut down, she said, women are now being referred to smaller, more scattered venues.
“Many follow their employers to new locations, bound by debt or a lack of experience in any other work,” Kim said.
Social workers at Sonya's House, an organization supporting sex workers, enter adult entertainment establishments to reach out to workers in Gangdong District, Seoul, Nov. 25, 2025. Courtesy of Sonya's House
Owners compensated, workers left behind
When the red-light districts were shut down and demolished, many brothel owners walked away with large redevelopment compensation payouts. Some of them used the money to open larger adult entertainment venues, while sex workers received almost none of the compensation.
For some women who qualified for state support, Sonya's House connected them to basic livelihood assistance programs, but only a handful were eligible.
“Most sex workers received no compensation because they had their residential registration address was listed elsewhere, even if they actually lived in the red-light district, and they moved too frequently to be recognized as long-term residents,” Kim explained.
Both Kim and Park noted the closures of the red-light districts failed to shrink the sex industry. Instead, they made it harder to track.
“Closing the Cheonho-dong district actually spread things out,” Park said. "Before, everything was in one place and police knew where to go. Now, they don't."
Kim said the closures just made the sex industry less visible.
“Many sex workers have moved into massage parlors, where clients book by phone and the women travel to them, making enforcement far harder,” Kim said. “Online prostitution has grown as well, with brokers posting ads for multiple women, leaving buyers to believe they are communicating directly with the women themselves.”
Calls for broader support
To address the problem, Kim called for stronger penalties for clients, most of whom currently receive a suspended indictment for a first offense and only face fines if caught again.
She also urged authorities to allow drop-in centers like Sonya's House to offer vocational training. Under Seoul city policy, such support is available only at residential facilities where sex workers or female victims of violence live full-time, leaving drop-in centers limited to medical and legal assistance.
“Many sex workers have few educational qualifications and little work experience outside the trade, making it hard to find employment,” Kim said. “It would make a real difference if facilities like ours could offer vocational training, from helping women in their 50s and 60s get certified as care workers to helping younger women obtain other qualifications.”