Sex trade victims' guardian plans to follow US troops to Pyeongtaek

Members of Durebang scout an entertainment district near United States Forces Korea's Camp Stanley in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, in an outreach program to help migrant women, mostly from the Philippines, who were forced into prostitution as a result of human trafficking. Photos courtesy of Durebang's homepage.

By Ko Dong-hwan

The sex trade has been rife near U.S. military camps across Korea. Many of the prostitutes were tricked by brokers in Korea who targeted migrants entering the country with E-6 entertainer visas.

Durebang, a welfare agency for women in prostitution in the entertainment districts near U.S. Forces Korea military camps in Uijeongbu and Dongducheon, is planning to move to Pyeongtaek where 90 percent of American forces across South Korea are relocating.

The agency plans to move its main office in Gosan-dong in Uijeongbu ― next to Camp Stanley ― and a branch office in Dongducheon, both in Gyeonggi Province, to Pyeongtaek, the site of Camp Humphreys, which houses the largest U.S. Army garrison in Northeast Asia.

“There have been districts or camp towns, populated by sex workers, near all U.S. camps in Korea,” Durebang Director Kim Eun-jin told The Korea Times. “The workers were originally Koreans but, during the 1980 to '90s, they were replaced by Russians and Filipinas. But after the government stopped issuing visas to Russians who came to become dancers, Filipinas make up most of the workers.”

Kim says the sex workers at camp towns were victims: Koreans were victims of their own government that pushed single women to earn U.S. dollars. Foreigners were victims of human trafficking by brokers in Korea who hoodwinked migrant workers with E-6 entertainer visas, offering to help them become dancers or singers and then trading them to bars and clubs to be prostitutes for American soldiers.

“There used be a massive club street in Gosan-dong but now Camp Stanley is nearly empty, with all the soldiers gone and all the clubs closed,” Kim said. “Now that the U.S. military presence around Pyeongtaek and Osan Air Base is growing, we are trying to work out plans about our role in those areas.

An entertainment district near Camp Stanley. Most of the clubs are now closed because the camp is relocating to Pyeongtaek.

“I bet there will be another entertainment district formed near those camps, just as it has been around American military camps across the country, with all those women suffering as a result of human trafficking.”

Considering the huge number of people moving into Pyeongtaek ― about 85,000, including the Eighth Army, the Second Infantry Division and the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command and their families ― the sex trade is almost certain to emerge.

Durebang bought 340 square meters of land in Pyeongtaek this year with money donated by female members of a Korean Presbyterian Church group. Work on the agency's new two-story office in the city started in May.

“In Pyeongtaek, Korean women who suffered forced prostitution in the entertainment district near Camp Humphreys are now at the center of a heated civic movement to introduce a new law to prevent similar cases,” Kim said. It's a sign that the Korean public, aware of the history of forced sex slavery for American troops in Korea, is not willing to let this happen again.

Harriett Faye Moon ― the American-born wife of Korean pastor Moon Dong-hwan ― founded Durebang in 1986. It has been trying to eliminate prostitution and human trafficking for?sexual exploitation within camp towns.

Its counseling center, known as “My Sister's Place,” offered medical and legal services and consultation on the exploitation of labor and human rights for victims who lived and worked in clubs in the camp town.

The Shelter for Migrant Women, “My Sister's Home,” provided safe housing, meals and repatriation services for those who experienced forced prostitution, violence and labor exploitation from club owners, promoters or managers.

Now headed by Kim, who stepped into the role a month ago, Durebang's biggest challenge is reshuffling its northern Gyeonggi Province services to the new location. With a series of workshops scheduled in September to prepare for the relocation, the agency is striving to continue its more than 30 years of fighting sex trafficking and helping victims.