Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Brothel Runners Threaten to Disclose List of 'Corrupt Cops'

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/09/117_30642.html

By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

With their backs against the wall after a month-long crackdown on prostitution, pimps in the red-light district in Jangan-dong, Seoul, are fighting back. They are threatening to make public the list of police officers to whom they have given bribes.

``We are considering publicizing the list, if the comprehensive crackdown continues,'' one said, declining to be named.

In Jangan-dong, they run brothels under the licenses of massage parlors. The owner of a ``massage parlor'' said, ``Roughly 50 pimps had an emergency meeting on Tuesday. Some said they have no choice but to disclose their secret lists as a sort of last resort against the police's harsh action.''

He said they have drawn up the list over the past two decades. ``The lists include hundreds of names of police officers. Some on the list now have become high-ranking police officers. Once the list is published, their reputation will be blemished.''

Despite the threat, Lee Jung-goo, chief of the Dongdaemun Police Station who initiated the crackdown, reaffirmed he would not ease up on his actions until his precinct is recognized as a ``prostitution-free zone.''

``We will continue our operations even if they reveal the list,'' Lee said.

A string of disputes between the police and sex parlor owners erupted after the Dongdaemoon Police Station head, appointed July 15, declared ``all-out war against prostitution'' on July 28 to root out the criminal activity during his term.

Since then, police have apprehended six pimps participating in an anti-police demonstration and booked roughly 160 sex workers and customers. An arrest warrant was also sought for another pimp Friday evening.

It has also confiscated hundreds of bathtubs, beds and even faucets installed at ``massages parlors'' and ``Hyugaetel'' (`rest' hotel) ㅡ weighing about 100 tons ㅡ to prevent them from resuming business. At the height of the crackdown, a brothel owner identified as a Choi hung himself in an underground parking as a result of the police action, according to a suicide note he left behind.

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[wylies99]

[bassexpander]

The mistake these people have made is in trying to draw attention to the list beforehand. That opens them up to being called liars. The "high-ranking" people could easily be names floated out there because they're known.

It'd be the little guys that would get nailed -- just like the lowly army captain that was the one person busted for being with the North Korean spy last week.

One things for sure, if they do publish a list of names, they'd better get out of town after it. I wouldn't be surprised to see another "special task force" made up of names of cops on that list. I'd bet they'd be out for revenge, and would be doing a lot more than booking people and ripping out bathtubs.

[Hater Depot]

It would be awesome if they actually did it, though.

[M-su]

Well, GOOD!

Korean authorities have a well-established reputation for being notoriously corrupt, so let's get rid of all the scumbags once and for all.

[Frankly Mr Shankly]

Well, at least it's confirmation of what many of us have expected all along. There has to be some kind of accomodation between police and the owners of the various kinds of knocking shops around.

[Konglishman]

Correct if I am mistaken about this, but I thought that pimps in Korea actually tend to be older ajumas.

[jdog2050]

[Sleepy in Seoul]

Corrupt police deserve, and need, to be exposed. Not much worse than a corrupt copper.

[GEOM]

Any reactions from the corrupt higher-ups, yet?

If not, then the pimp's plan just backfired. I bet this Lee Jung-goo guy is thinking, "Yeah, let's kill two birds with one stone. Hell, I might even get promoted faster now that the seats will be vacant soon".

[Illysook]

Perhaps they could be rid of both the pimps and the corrupt cops. They will probably keep the hookers, especially if they don't have jobs or rehab programs for those affected.

[exit86]

What a f'ing joke! Corrupt cops theaten to enforce the law (which they never enforced because they were getting cash from the lawbreakers)
and the lawbreakers illegally--through blackmail and threatened "defamation of character"--say they are gonna blow the whistle on the dirty cops; so the lawbreakers become the law enforcers.

What the heck? My head hurts.

"Law" is such a joke in Korea.
There is no such thing.
If nobody follows it and nobody enforces it, the law does not exist
outside of the book it is printed in.

Here are a few other"laws" in Korea you may not be aware of:

The following acts are against the law:
--spitting on the sidewalk
--urinating or defecating in public
--smoking at bus stops
--littering
--running through red lights
--jaywalking
--vomiting on the sidewalk
--drinking alcohol in public places

We can see how well these laws are enforced.
What a f'ing joke.

[JZer]

[exit86]

True, but not to the ENORMOUS extent that it transpires here in Korea.
I am looking out my window now and can see three juicy bars.
I can never really remember being able to do this anywhere in the US
or Canada. When I walk to work in the morning I pass 5 different sex establishments. Don't give that typical line of B.S.: "Well, it happens in the US, so don't say bad things about it in Korea" It is against the law here in Korea, which is a public admittance on the part of the government leaders--of the society as a whole--that it is hurtful and should therefore be stopped. When was the last time you saw a hooker in the US outside of the sleaziest parts of NYC or Las Vegas??? Seen any in DesMoines?
How about Gunnison, Colorado? Pittsburg? Martha's Vineyard?

[rooster_2006]