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Police have busted the operator and members of an online swingers community. The nation’s largest partner-swapping site with more than 5,000 registered members, it in one year arranged over 400 sexual encounters involving both unmarried individuals and married couples. Members are said to include upper-class Koreans.
Busan police detained on Tuesday a 37-year-old man identified as Yu for founding and operating the website and arranging for what police described as "abnormal" sexual relations between the community's members.
Yu recruited members for the site, founded in September 2003, and arranged for sexual encounters including partner swaps and group sex. Videos and pictures from the encounters were put on the site, and police suspect Yu made over W50 million (US$50,000) from membership fees. The website included some 1,200 photos and videos, 300 of which were taken by members during their sexual encounters.
Among the trysts Yu is suspected of having arranged was a Dec. 16 orgy in a guesthouse in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province involving 16 members who engaged in partner swapping and two-on-one sex. Police believe site members engaged in over 400 sexual encounters in all and plan to call 200 members suspected of involvement for questioning.
Yu told police members would look at nude photos or videos of couples having sex, and if they liked what they saw, they would contact the site and arrange to have sex with the individuals in places like hotels. He said high-income earners including the CEO of a mid-sized firm made up the bulk of the community's members.
Yu classified members into four categories according to their activity, taking into account the photos they took of themselves, their sexual encounters and payment of membership dues. Men were required to be over 25 to join, and women over 23. Membership fees were W32,000 for two months, with the option of a W120,000 lifetime registration fee. Police said about 450 users were lifetime members.
However, police admit to being on shaky ground. They say while swinging may be detrimental to public morality, it is a consensual activity and there are no legal grounds for punishing it.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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