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Police on Sunday arrested a job broker suspected of luring some 200 women into prostitution in the U.S. and elsewhere. Acting on a complaint from a 25-year-old woman identified as Lee, Seoul Metropolitan Police arrested five people including the 53-year-old broker identified as Hyun for involvement in the flesh trade.
Police say the gang forged employment certificates to obtain U.S. and Japanese visas and smuggled women into the U.S. through Canada. They charged the victims W8 million (US$8,000)each for the processing, earning some W600 million altogether.
Lee told police an acquaintance in March asked her if she was interested in working in the U.S. and introduced her to Hyun, who explained that she would be working as a nail artist or waitress. Lee paid the W8 million processing fee and in June arrived in the U.S, where she was joined by three other Korean women. Lee said she was startled when the women asked her if she had experience in prostitution and assured her it was easy because ˇ°everyone takes drugs.ˇ±
Lee claimed she was forced to have sex with customers on call, adding many of the women took ecstasy to make the experience bearable. She said she went on hunger strike when her employer ignored her pleas to send her back to Korea and took her passport off her, but had to stop when he threatened to burn all her belongings. However, after two months Lee said a Korean working in a coffee shop near her accommodation introduced her to a policeman, who helped her return to Korea.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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