I break for Pyongyang gisaeng

Pyongyang GisaengDr. Andrei Lankov outlines the development of the world oldest profession in North Korea in his latest column in the Korea Times. Where else can you read stuff like this:

Once upon a time, prostitution was common in the North. Prior to the Korean War, the kisaeng houses _ a cross between an elite club, a restaurant, and a brothel _ flourished in the cities, and in the years 1945-1950 even the leaders of the new Communist regime would occasionally choose a kisaeng house for a confidential meeting. Suffice to say that the first encounter between Kim Il-sung and the leader of the North Korean Nationalist Right, Cho Man-sik, was arranged by Soviet officers in Hwabang, the then famous kisaeng house (this meeting took place on Sept. 30, 1945).

If the picture of North Korean uber-commie Kim Il-sung knocking back a couple with Christian rightist Cho Man-sik in the company of comely young ladies courtesy the Soviet Red Army doesn’t give you a warm fuzzy feeling, I don’t know what will.

Photo of Pyongyang gisaeng stolen from here.

This entry was written by Robert Koehler, posted on September 3, 2004 at 3:17 am, filed under North Korea. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.

12 Comments

  1. WJK your flag
    Posted September 3, 2004 at 3:53 pm | Permalink

    Go find other religions to knock. Nobody’s perfect and every religion has members who are phony.

  2. The Marmot your flag
    Posted September 3, 2004 at 3:56 pm | Permalink

    I’m sorry?

  3. Keith your flag
    Posted September 3, 2004 at 11:02 pm | Permalink

    Imagine a story about prostitution in a Korean paper without mentioning American soldiers, I didn’t think it was possible. Must have slipped past the editors somehow.

  4. Joel your flag
    Posted September 3, 2004 at 11:03 pm | Permalink

    I think he’s talking about prostitution rather than christianity. I’m pissed too. I wish you would take prostitution more seriously and cover it more in your blog…

  5. Scott-in-Japan your flag
    Posted September 4, 2004 at 4:06 am | Permalink

    Yes, the issue of prostitution requires more coverage. With photos and video, if you don’t mind…

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    Posted September 4, 2004 at 6:05 pm | Permalink

    Finally something Scott and I can agree on.

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    Posted September 5, 2004 at 6:08 pm | Permalink

    Strange Bedfellows
    Robert Koehler of The Marmot’s Hole has posted proof positive that politics makes strange bedfellows. He describes a real-life event where the military arranged a meeting in a brothel between a Christian conservative and a communist.

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