Got your attention huh?
Interesting Lankov column on the origins of Korea’s sex industry.
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Korea’s Sex Industry
This entry was written by WangKon936, posted on July 15, 2008 at 1:51 pm, filed under Japan, Korean Culture, Korean Economy. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
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63 Comments
So it looks like Japan’s attitude of their own sex industry was torn. They apparently wanted the brothels but they didn’t want to let outsiders know about it. And they refused to include other nation’s women in their own sex industry for a long time.
This is old news; and I don’t mean just because it appeared over a week ago in the KT.
It’s also a bit misleading insofar as (in typical Korean fashion) it means to blame the Korean sex trade on Japan. Organized prostitution in both Korea and Japan was essentially of the high-priced spread variety of the geisha and gisaeng before the social transformations wrought by industrialization and commercialization.
Japanese commercialization of the Korean economy after the Treaty of Ganghwa, and Japanese domination of commercial trade in Korea from then through the colonial period (w/ a short hiatus in which the Chinese threw their weight around under Yuan Shikai) was just the vector for this manifestation of modernization - just as US and other Western commercial “penetration” of Japan was the vector for an enormous expansion in the scope of the commercial sex trade in Japan that had got under way in the indigeneously burgeoning commercial segments of Tokugowa society in Osaka and Edo.
I wonder if we will be hearing from the Korean nationalist fabulists that Korea nevertheless would have developed a commercial sex trade on its own, if they had been left alone, just as it (counterfactually) is asserted by the same group of fantasists that Korea woulda, coulda, shoulda modernized itself economically if only it had been left to its own devices.
Sperwer,
I was being sarcastic about perhaps implying that it’s all Japan’s fault. Lighten up.
And I do know it’s old. It wasn’t posted earlier because everyone was distracted with beef. However, just because some may not agree with this particular Lankov piece doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not discussable.
Japan’s attitudes and notions of sex are unique and interesting. Of course those attitudes had an influence on Korea, for better or for worse.
Frankly, I do not for one second believe that there was no prostitution before the Japanese imported it. I bet it was here for the rich before the Japanese came; just no one talked about it.Why do I think this? There is a prostitute in my apartment building whom I have seen with my own eyes and my local gov. denies the sex industry exists in our town.In 2008.
Well, I am usually very happy to undermine assorted myths of Korean (Russian, Chinese etc.) nationalists. However, in this case I tend to side with them: apart from very specific institution of kisaeng (not prostitutes in a strict sense), I’ve never come across any references to commercial sex in pre-1870 Korea, and I used to read a lot about that period, including some original sources (did my PhD on the 17th century politics and made an - unfinished - attempt to rework it into a larger book dealing with both politics and society of the era). The prostitution must have existed in some forms, but obviously on very small scale. Actually, Robert Neff once mentioned that he has seen a reference to cheap harlots, but only one AFAIK.
Keep repeating: pre-1876 Korea had not developed: a) theater, b) restaurant culture and c) commercial sex. Korean nationalists tend to be proud of “c”, tend to ignore “b” and tend to deny “a” by, say, presenting 판소리 or 탈춤 as a ‘real theater’. However, these “three absences” (三無 as Chinese would probably put it) probably reflect the same peculiarity of the pre-modern Korea social structure, the social and cultural weakness of the urban merchant class. In other countries it is usually the merchants who sleep with sellable girls, eat in restaurants and watch theater performances. In Korea, this group was weak and imitated the Neo-Confucian values of the literati. At least this is my explanation.
I am actually surprised to hear about lack of “wide scale” prostitution in Korea.If you were peasant and have about seven or eight kids in your family,naturally you might want sell one or two of your daughters in the year of bad crops to pimps.Well,at least that’s how Japanese peasants lived off the times of famine.
Lankov:
I agree. My point was not to dismiss the correlation between the relatively more “widespread” appearance of commercial sex in Korea and Japanese commercialization of the Korean economy and later colonialism, but to put it in a more interesting (and potentially more useful) context than the I BLAME JAPAN™ shibboleth that 자근 황자 meant to invoke (provoke?) with his posting - a provocation that I didn’t mean to attribute to you.
Of course another interesting aspect of this topic is the alacrity with which Koreans pursued the sex trade on and for their own because they were largely shut out of the Japanese action (during the pre-colonial and colonial periods) and later after the Japanese got out of Dodge. Sort of puts paid to the notion of intrinsic Korean purity corrupted, which probably -as you intimate in your original article - had less to do with morality than grinding poverty.
#5
It takes two to tango. or trade, even if merchandise happens to be pretty girls. As far as I know, it was common to sell daughters as maids or as concubines, not not to brothels, since, as I have said, brothels in Korea were rare or even non-existent until the late 19th century… In Japan they had brothels (but no officially apporved concubinage), so farmers in the Land of Rising Sun had somewhat different choices.
Lancov, this begs the question, what did Koreans do for sex before they could buy it or swap spouses as is the general practice today?
“Lancov, this begs the question, what did Koreans do for sex before they could buy it or swap spouses as is the general practice today?”
And the Korea-bashing based on false generalizations by mizar5 continues…
And I continue to see through him for what he is (and hopefully others do as well).
And the false arguing from omniscience of JK continues…
don’t complain about what you enjoy with your money in Korea.
I suspect a lot of you were frequent customers. Why complain?
I like merchants. Merchants were the drivers in capitalism, and merchants have supplanted royalty in this age.
Korea has suppressed and mistreated merchants for hundreds of years. Given they did so, and the upperclass of Korea proclaiming to have spent so much time on quasi religion of China, is it so surprising, they weren’t super whore experts?
You wouldn’t say that to some other religious societies.
But, no, your conclusion is that it was only because Korea was poor.
Sprewer, you’re surprisingly mute about the
http://www.fbi.gov/libref/hist.....pyring.htm
Remember, you’re the one who said European immigrants to the US, instantly sing the Star Spangle banner, and die for the US on battlefield?
I don’t respect you.
I’m flattered, but
Please take your meds.
JK reminds me of those nutizens who took up the personal mission of following foreigners into clubs at Hong Dae and snapping pictures of them “misbehaving” (ie. dancing) with young Korean ladies.
I wonder if he is attempting to characterize my observation of the widespread incidence of extramarital trysts or paid sex as a false generalization without actually refuting the statement.
I also wonder whether, acknowledging the truth of this statement or not, he nonetheless regards it as “Korea-bashing” (which I would presume to mean singling out Korea by cherry picking). If so, on what basis would he presume this to be the case?
For all he knows I might personally condone Asian sexual mores, or at least not presume to judge them on narrowly personal moralistic terms. Being a godless atheist, I certainly don’t speak from the perspective of religious judgementalism. And neither do I single out Korea among Asian nations for any criticism of these sexual practices, which, are rather general practices among many Asian nations today.
The call to action and appeal to popularity is also amusing (ie. I hope others see through him as well). This sounds like code for “Let’s all gang up on Mizar for saying things that I don’t like to admit but incidentally haven’t refuted.”
In my view, sex is a universal urge. Throughout history people have generally sought outlets for their sexual urges. I fail to see why Korea would be an exception.
see? not a word about the PROOF
proof of what? your inanity?
maybe you forgot how to read.
poor thing, never admits his mistake.
what a moron.
Keep believing in your prejudices.
Prof. Lankov,
I thought it was a great article and learned quite a bit. Please drop me a line - I have a few questions and would also like to share a name with you - perhaps, and I say this cautiously, the first Western prostitute to grace Korea’s shores - in 1884.
very interesting post. thanks.
I remember seeing somewhere that a lot of Jumo… the Korean inn keeper ladies were former gisengs. I am thinking that usually people who sell alchohol to travelers often sell those other “services.” … but the lack of historical documentation is interesting. I would think that if there are “services” involved, there would be associated problems and arising legal disputes generating Chosun government records…
But then again, I guess the economics of the lack of the trade makes sense as well… No contraception except for dangerous poisons… If a woman gets pregnant then that would be an economic loss and so they would have to charge a very high fee. Most Koreans were poor, so I guess the “services” would be beyond the price range of most people. But that doesn’t explain to me how how come the system worked in Japan–unless Japanese merchant class were just richer than Koeran merchant class.
Some people think that because sex is “universal” things must be the same in Korea as elsewhere far as prostitution is concerened. But it’s entirely possible that people in Korea bumped uglies like most modern americans. The guy chases skirts… The girl go up the mountain to “harvest mountain vegetables” and the guy go up the same mountain to “gather firewood.”
“BLAME JAPAN™ shibboleth that 자근 황자 meant to invoke (provoke?) with his posting”
Sperwer,
Did you even bother to read my # 3? What is your freak’in problem? There are times where I’m sarcastic towards all parties, so lighten up. I am not reinforcing some agenda, nor did I intend to. Don’t put words in my mouth, particularly ones with obscure Hebrew etymology.
My personal view is that although Japan may have introduced its commericalization, it was entirely Korea’s choice to continue on with the commericalization and expand it to the scope that likely equaled and may have surpassed the original Japanese example (although there is no quantitative evidence, as I’m aware of, to prove or unprove the above statement).
No reason to hide behind hangul. Why don’t you be a real man and just come out and say it in a way everyone can understand? BTW… don’t you mean 황제? Better transliteration of 皇帝.
Unless you meant 왕자 or 王子, which would mean you misspelled it… again.
I found the diction of 자근 to be more intriguing. Could be an awful spelling of “little”, but wildly outlandish interpretation would be more fun — like “close to self” or “purple root”. (Too bad I can’t type Chinese character at work…)
Prostitution is prostitution, regardless of who can afford it and whether or not it’s commercial.
The whole “purity” of Koreans thing is total BS because there is “I” in Korea remember.
Good article btw
Sorry, there is no “I” in Korea remember.
Prof. Lankov, how nice of you to join us! I just checked _North of the DMZ_ out of my old uni library today (I’m back visiting Canada) and really look forward to reading it. I also gave _Dawn of Modern Korea_ to my Korean co-worker who’s really finding it interesting.
Lankov
“Traditionally, most East Asian countries have had few scruples with regard to extramarital sex as far as males were concerned, but before 1900, Japan was remarkable in the development of commercial prostitution on a grand scale.”
But what? What is the relationship between extramarital sex and prostitution…and tradition? Tradition? You must be aware that extramarital sex is not dependent on prostitution in human culture? What is your topic? Human beings have extramarital sex. The present human world is always full of extramarital sex (and prostitution). What are you trying to define?
“In this regard it was different from Korea, where in old times only the rich and famous could afford to buy expensive sexual services from gisaeng girls, while the “low orders” usually had no access to commercial sex whatsoever.”
In what regard? What do you know of old Korea and Koreans having sex?
In 1900! What makes you think a human society happens upon sex for sale?
Call them Japanese, give them a name, use it to organize, etc…
Try not to get lost in your narrow scope of east asian history and attribute basic human behaviour to specific groups of modern people.
There is no “difference”; it’s the same experience for all human generations. Your distance and ignorance from the experience of being a prostitute is the same as it’s always been. Your thoughts about why it happens is the same as it’s always been.
You try to define how things happened in the past; I say what is now has always been.
A female prostitute..Japanese, Korea, whatever…that is now…you don’t know why. You have no idea of you’re talking about.
Thanks for correcting my typing errors. Forgive me if I don’t return the favor on your grammar and syntax; doing so seems a bit petty.
Phfft… weak.
What’s the point of trying to insult someone when you can’t even get the punchline right?
Well, when you can’t win an argument, you call ‘em names. When you can’t call ‘em names, you try doing it with a between paragraph sucker punch!
When you can’t even do that right, you whine meekly about “syntax and grammar….”
Sperwer… I have a better idea, why don’t you crawl into the warm comfortable prenatal cave somewhere between the Metropolitan and Occidentalism and do your crying there.
I’m not an expert.So I could be saying something stupid.But maybe Japan being the land of warring states could be one of the reason for wide-spread prostitution.For when you have a war,you need lots of mobilization of men away from their homes and eventually you get many widows and fatherless daughters.I would imagine there were lots of abduction and slave hunting.
And then after Tokugawa Shogunate rose from the ashes,the country was divided into many clan-state with single currency economy.Which allows the traffickers to take women from one place to the other while their peasant families were restricted to stay in their own land.And ofcourse currency economy had pushed commodity trade into the mainstream and the middlemen making more profit from rice field than the peasants,which eventually drove many peasants to sell their daughters to brothels.
I’m not an expert.So I could be saying something stupid.But maybe Japan being the land of warring states could be one of the reason for wide-spread prostitution.For when you have a war,you need lots of mobilization of men away from their homes and eventually you get many widows and fatherless daughters.I would imagine there were lots of abduction and slave hunting.
And these just wasn’t the case in Joseon dynsaty where a single monarchy running the show for more than 500 years.
And then after Tokugawa Shogunate rose from the ashes,the country was divided into many clan-state with single currency economy.Which allows the traffickers to take women from one place to the other while their peasant families were restricted to stay in their own land.And ofcourse currency economy had pushed commodity trade into the mainstream and the middlemen making more profit from rice field than the peasants,which eventually drove many peasants to sell their daughters to brothels.
res ipsa loquitur
Prostitution is one form of extramarital sex. Before birth control and abortion gave women full control over their reproduction, sex carried the health risks of pregnancy, childbirth, and the responsibility of a child to raise. In lieu of the security of marriage, some compensation was needed to persuade women to risk pregnancy and motherhood. The existence of prostitutes also discouraged men from preying on others’ wives or virgin daughters. While there are tales of traditional cultures where women are sexually promiscuous, some cases, like the Samoan girls that Margaret Mead studied, have been debunked.
It is? I don’t think the world’s cultures of “full” of extramarital sex. The sexual liberation of women is largely a modern change made possible through reproductive control, and in Middle Eastern cultures, women’s sexuality is still tightly controlled.
Argumentum ad hominem also speaks for itself…
Go back and look it up, nimrod. I just called you on your pompous moniker. What you’re doing is ad hominem, I’ve never dismissed your sometimes queer positions by smearing you instead of commenting on your claims such as they are. Can’t say the same for you; see #33.
Well, I simply think the reason why prostitution was so widespread in pre-modern Japan is that Japan already in the 17th century was a highly commerecialised society.
Korea under the Chosun dynasty was not. If you read the reports of delegates from the Chosun dynasty, it is clear that they were highly impressed by the economic and commercial prosperity of Tokugawa Japan.
Even if they considerd Japan because of this commercial prosperity somewhat moraly deteriorated.
I smell a pawi sock puppet in the woodpile
However, these “three absences” (三無 as Chinese would probably put it) probably reflect the same peculiarity of the pre-modern Korea social structure, the social and cultural weakness of the urban merchant class. In other countries it is usually the merchants who sleep with sellable girls, eat in restaurants and watch theater performances. In Korea, this group was weak and imitated the Neo-Confucian values of the literati.
This is pretty good reasoning, I’d be happy to go along with that.
# 36,
I can see that I touched a nerve.
You can continue to call me a nimrod, a 자근 황제 (I’ve corrected your spelling assuming you mean to call me a “little emperor”), and call my ideas “queer” (although I don’t know how my ideas relate to homosexuality or are generally weird).
At this point, you are not making a lot of sense (which “pompous moniker” are you talking about?)…
Any more ‘last word-ism’ before we break for lunch?
Yeah:
Re #38
Actually no; given the brain farts you seem to experience that apparently prevent you from realizing it yourself, I thought just to point out how interesting it is that the pot calls the kettle black while it’s even in the act of painting itself.
WangKon = pompous moniker; look it up. (I assume you even claim some connection with the real deal = Taejo of Goryeo)
queer = “1 a: worthless, counterfeit b: questionable, suspicious2 a: differing in some odd way from what is usual or normal b (1): eccentric, unconventional (2): mildly insane : touched c: absorbed or interested to an extreme or unreasonable degree : obsessed” per Websters. Only the last definition relates to homosexuality. I assume you’re just ill-educated and/or PC and not that I’ve hit a nerve with that one.
Why don’t you two come over tomorrow for a bury-the-hatchet lunch? I’m serving homemade chicken enchiladas. Everything’s from scratch, except for the tortillas. Slow-cooked, pulled chicken meat. Mmmm. Perfectly ripe, locally grown ruby red tomatoes. Salmonella-free. Ancho and poblano chiles. I made the sauce tonight to let the flavors blend together. Mmmm. If you play nice, I might even sprinkle on some locally made raw milk cheddar cheese.
tomojiro: “Well, I simply think the reason why prostitution was so widespread in pre-modern Japan is that Japan already in the 17th century was a highly commerecialised society.”
Admittedly knowing little about the subject, and believing that cultures are the result of a complex web of interdependent causalities, I am nonetheless surprised that no one has so far given a tip of the hat to Confucian influence.
maybe you should read more carefully.
Confu says, sell your daughter to be a whore, if you are poor.
Not.
maybe you should read more carefully.
Confu says, sell your daughter to be a whore, if you are poor.
Not.
what do you think I was referring to by quasi “religion”.
#42
Influence of Confucianism in Japan was not widespread to peasants in Japan.Even to the establishment,it was more of a knowledge than quasi-faith for there were no imperial examination in Japan.
Thus there were no taboo in sexual practice.
SOnagi:
If only my teleporter still worked!
# 40,
My family background is Silla dynasty, not Koryo. I picked the “moniker” WangKon936 because I liked the fact that Wang Geon tried to unite Korea and consolidate power with a lot less bloodshed than Silla or Yi Seong-gye when he founded the Joseon Dynasty. An image stuck in my mind when I saw the drama “Tears of the Dragon.” There was a scene when Yi Seong-gye had a dream/nightmare and Wang Geon appeared and heavily admonished Yi for killing all his known descendants. Wang, in Yi’s dream said he never tried to wholesale kill entire royal families to establish his dynasty. He actually established peace between royal families and married into them to maintain the peace.
936 AD was the date when Wang Geon finally defeated Hu-Baekje and established a unification of Korea that I believe was more complete than Silla’s, not only peacefully bringing Silla into the fold, but also surviving Koguryo clans from the disintegrating kingdom of Parhae, fleeing from the Liao Khitans.
So the handle I’m often known for on the web has nothing to do with pompousness or a family affiliation.
Oh, and queer has six shades of meaning as an adjective in Merriam-Webster. I’m from California and, at least from my experience, the word usually is used to refer to homosexuals or things homosexual-like or things that are weird and eccentric.
If we can have a conversation without you trying to insult me, perhaps real communication could be accomplished? That is, if you want to communicate.
Do you have a sister?
Mizar 5
Well, as Aceface said, influence of Confucianism was limited during the Tokugawa era( it was used as an ideological tool to transform the warfare-driven samurais to bureaucrats. There is an interesting book in English about that theme by Eiko Ikegami which title is “The Taming of the Samurai : Honorific Individualism and the Making of Modern Japan”
http://www.amazon.com/Taming-S.....0674868099
Interestingly, maybe Confucianism had a wider effect on Japan AFTER the Meiji restoration in trying to build nationhood ready for a modern army in introducing “Imperial rescript on education（教育勅語）” and “Imperial rescript to Soldiers and Sailors（軍人勅諭）”
Albeit a very “Yamatonized” version of Confucianism.
But personally I believe Confucianism has little to do with restricting/prospering prostitution. There were brothels and whorehouse in China, and if Confucianism had such a deep effect to restrict prostitution, then the Korean would have not that much quickly drugged in this “bad behavior” even if they had to live under Japanese colonial rule.
Economy and commercialism is the key factor, IMHO.
Slash — No, it’s not possible. Korea’s nationalism combines with its xenophobia in this case.
I blame Japan.
# 27 and 52,
I nominate mizar as someone who has Korean blood coursing through his veins and can probably talk about Korean sexuality without mentioning Japan.
Hell, I’ve done it on occasion as well.
# 27 and 52
I can name plenty of “blood” Koreans who can chat of about Korean sexuality without the word “Japan.” As for racism and violence I would say, forget mentioning Japan, its just not talked of for the most part (a problem in itself).
I guess it’s all meant to be funny but there’s nothing that screams ‘dick’ than trying to attribute the effects of culture, history, and environment to genetics. Cuz geez, does that mean Italians are genetically inclined to what, like olives and pasta? Are Middle Easterners genetically inclined to see the Western world as infidels? Are Canadians genetically inclined to be pussies afraid of fighting? Are Africans genetically inclined to be lazy? The sad thing is, I’ve actually heard people say those things. From genetically inclined observant, independent thinkers of course.
a great lankov column followed by 50 inane comments. Marmot, you really should just have open thread every 3 posts.
virtual wonderer: “a great lankov column followed by 50 inane comments.”
Make that 51.
Pre-1870’s, there was a lot of disconnected villages who rarely saw visitors. From my experience, I’ve found that those places, along with people who are closer together (ie. everybody knows each other in the place), prostitution tends to be quite rare. If you have any parents from such places, I’m sure you’ve heard their complaining about the ol’ days and how crazy today is plenty of times.
Prostitution was rare in the pre-1870 era because it was subject to severe punishment by the authorities, in accordance with neo-Confucianist values. In any case, with upwards of 70% of the general population of Chosun being nobi, too many were preoccupied with just keeping their nose above the grind to indulge in such practices.
This would also explain why the early Japanese brothels only employed Japanese prostitutes. Indeed, the Japanese established commercialized sex industry to Korea, but credit is also due to the US military presence after 1945.
Is that because the US military promoted it? Or because ROKGOV did?
mizar5, a d1ck 3 years ago when i was here looking around and still strong.
“Indeed, the Japanese established commercialized sex industry to Korea, but credit is also due to the US military presence after 1945.”
If you read Lankov more carefully you’ll discover that enough Koreans liked Japanese-style commercialised sex that during the colonial era that quite a large indigenous sex industry with Koreans servicing Koreans emerged. Many US servicemen also purchased Korean prostitutes out of bound prostitution in the post-war years.
If Korea didnt have prostitution for all those years before the Japanese came, Korea sure is making up for all that lost time.
And I knew that the anti-prostitution law would be a waste of taxpayer’s money and everyone’s time. My parents’ neighborhood seems to have many more Anma and daeddalbangs now.
@59, thank you for the reverse asteism.
“If you read Lankov more carefully you’ll discover that enough Koreans liked Japanese-style commercialised sex that during the colonial era that quite a large indigenous sex industry with Koreans servicing Koreans emerged.”
My point exactly!
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