Taxman forces woman into sexual slavery

A photocopy of a contract includes the part where the woman states "if I do not pay the money back on time, I have to stay with you and do everything you want me to." / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

A low-ranking tax official in North Chungcheong Province is being investigated for coercing a prostitute into sexual slavery through a written contract she signed with him.

The civil servant first met the woman at a brothel in 2012 and the two maintained a sexual relationship, Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency said Tuesday.

The man lent the woman 40 million won ($37,000 as she was facing threats from a loan shark.)

The two then allegedly entered into a written agreement, under which she was supposed to pay back the money in monthly installments with an annual interest rate of 40 percent.

A photocopy of the contract, obtained by Yonhap News Agency, shows the woman stating, “If I do not pay the money back on time, I have to stay with you and do everything that you want me to.”

The woman was forced into having sex with the man 26 times over the course of 18 months because she failed to settle her monthly payments, the police said.

The man blackmailed the woman by threatening to tell her family that she was working in the sex industry. He also accessed her personal information through the computer network of the National Tax Service (NTS).

“Because I was working in the sex industry, I was scared and couldn’t report it to the police. But he even came to my house and attempted to use violence, so I reported his behavior to the police,” she told Yonhap.

The man has denied forcing the woman to have sex with him. However, he admitted illegally accessing the NTS’s network.

The man’s lawyer accused the woman of trying to avoid paying back the loan, and said the man is considering taking legal action against her.

Police said they will refer the man to the prosecution for indictment on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Law and coercion.