By Lee Hyo-sik
A 43-year-old man surnamed Lee was arrested on suspicion of brokering prostitution online in breach of the country’s Anti-Prostitution Law, the prosecution said Thursday.
According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, Lee opened the so-called “sponsor cafe” on one of Korea’s largest portal sites in July last year. Using the service, women would search for men to support them financially in exchange for sex. Until June this year, he operated the cafe recruiting a total of 81 female members.
Lee was found to have promised the women that he would introduce them to wealthy men willing to give them money in exchange for sex.
He even had sexual relations with some of the women, telling them that they would be paired with wealthier sponsors.
Under the law, those caught brokering prostitution on the Internet face a maximum jail sentence of three years or a 30 million won ($28,000) fine.
The prosecution said the majority of the cafe members were women in their 20s to early 30s who wanted to earn money to purchase luxury goods, receive cosmetic surgery and pay for university tuition.
They included school teachers, flight attendants and office workers. Prosecutors launched an investigation into the sponsor cafe after arresting a 27-year-old man surnamed Joo last month on charges of fraud.
Joo had sex with 11 women he met through the cafe by lying to them and promising to give them money.
“Sponsor cafes have become an online hotbed for prostitution. They have become a place where men can have free sex by falsely promising women money,” a prosecution official said.
The official said the prosecution asked Naver and other Web portal operators to shut down sponsor cafes and other sites designed to broker prostitution.
Naver and Daum, two of the country’s largest portals, have closed some 118 such sites and blocked terms such as “sponsor cafe” and some sexually explicit phrases from being looked up on their search engines.