Forces Korea official said this week that the number of American troops visiting brothels in South Korea has dropped in recent years and is now "very low. Now, about five servicemembers a year get into trouble for prostitution-related crimes, and the lack of business has forced some brothels outside U. Johnson said educating troops about human trafficking is working. South Korean police began a nationwide, three-month crackdown on prostitution in July.
Both locations are within walking distance of Yongsan Garrison, home to the headquarters for the U. A South Korean police officer said no U. And through the end of October, police will focus on shutting down illegal "hyugaetels," or rest hotels, where customers can call ahead to hire a prostitute and rent small rooms by the hour. After that incident, USFK instituted a zero-tolerance policy toward prostitution, toughening some of its regulations and setting up a hotline for people to report human-trafficking violations.
In an interview with Stripes in the fall of , LaPorte said nearly servicemembers had been punished that year for offenses related to prostitution. Those offenses included soliciting prostitutes, curfew violations and visiting off-limits establishments. Most were punished through Article 15s, nonjudicial punishments handed down by unit commanders. Johnson said South Korean attitudes toward prostitution are rapidly changing.
The country toughened its prostitution laws in to treat sex workers more as victims and increase penalties for their customers, he said. Johnson said some brothels in the Dongducheon area that catered primarily to U. Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world. Sign Up Now. Theaters U. News Prostitution crimes down among troops in S. Korea By Ashley Rowland. Ashley Rowland. Sign Up for Daily Headlines Sign up to receive a daily email of today's top military news stories from Stars and Stripes and top news outlets from around the world.
