And in a profile of courage of another kind, courtesy Stars & Stripes:
At one point in her life, in the midst of prostitution and alcohol abuse, Kim Yeon-ja wanted most to save a little money, return to her mother?????s home at South Korea?????s southern tip and open a bakery.
Kim said the savings plan worked while she was a prostitute during her 20s, in Dongducheon and then Songtan, towns just outside U.S. military bases. She even earned enough to buy a house in Songtan.
But she started playing blackjack and ended up losing everything.
Now, decades later, she?????s back in Songtan, helping younger Korean women who are prostitutes, who have children with no fathers or who might be on the brink of becoming prostitutes in order to make a living.
Please, be sure to read the rest.
5 Comments
Good story, but is “Stupid Foreigner Tricks” really the category under which you meant to file this?
Oh whoops. I thought you said ‘Gilmore Girls’.
Good story, but is ?Stupid Foreigner Tricks?? really the category under which you meant to file this?
Same question that came to my mind when I read this post.
I’m curious though, as to who she’s helping these days…Russians and Filipinas? Because from what I hear, except for a few hardcase Korean girls, they’re the ones who are working in just about all the bars off base. Unless she’s helping Korean prostitutes who don’t work in a GI bar in the ville which is highly unlikely, considering prostitution is illegal in Korea and only exists around the bases to keep the evil GIs from preying on the local flowers.
There was an even lengthier article about Kim Yeon-ja’s life in the Joongang Ilbo almost 2 months ago. I found this bit interesting:
She said government officials often came down to Songtan to give special lectures. They praised the girls as “true patriots,” or “good people who reaped dollars.”
And:
The issue of criminal acts by the U.S, military began to rise in 1992 when Yoon Geum-yi, a Korean bar waitress at a military club, was brutally killed. Activists then brought public attention to the issue, and anti-American sentiment grew. But Ms. Kim remained doubtful.
“There were dozens of girls who died before Yoon Geum-yi died. But no one ever tried to help us when we called for help,” she said. “I felt that Yoon Geum-yi was just used as a tool for anti-American protests.”
It’s definitely worth reading in full.
Let them die from hunger. What excuse do they have to do that? Poverty? Nah.