Hey, prostitutes need to make a living, too!

by Robert Koehler on April 15, 2011

Great photo in the KT from a protest against the Special Law on Prostitution by prostitutes and pimps in Yeongdeungpo yesterday.

Tagged as: Prostitution, Special Law on Prostitution

{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Wedge April 15, 2011 at 2:41 pm: I liked it better when they wore yellow Yankees caps.
2 cm April 15, 2011 at 8:13 pm: “threatening their livelihood”…. so the law is actually having some effect.
3 dww April 15, 2011 at 9:13 pm: I would SO do that chick on the left.
4 setnaffa April 15, 2011 at 9:21 pm: Red hats, clenched fists… Hmmm… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raised_fist

I have no skin in this game; but it seems rather odd for them to self-identify…
5 seouldout April 15, 2011 at 10:55 pm: How are these tarts gonna attract the punters when they cover their faces?
6 DLBarch April 16, 2011 at 12:26 am: “Times Square”?

DLB
7 WangKon936 April 16, 2011 at 12:41 am: Give women more legitimate opportunities and you won’t see whores protesting for their jobs. The opportunities have to be more than “warm, young ass to grab while getting coffee and/or at the company noraebang bonding session.”

I tried dating this one gal who worked for Samsung North America. Every time I called her over the weekday she answered the phone at some noreabang, half drunk, surrounded by a bunch of ajusshis trying to grab her ass. She hated it, but it was $45k a year for basically doing nothing (during the day).
8 DLBarch April 16, 2011 at 1:01 am: WK,

Tell that Samsung North America friend of yours that she has a potentially very strong and HUGE sexual harassment claim against Samsuck.

DLB
9 WangKon936 April 16, 2011 at 1:24 am: If she was more of a gyopo, she’s totally be up for something like that… but she’s a bit too Koreanized to go the litigation route.
10 DLBarch April 16, 2011 at 2:15 am: WK,

Sorry to hear that. That’s her choice and her right, of course, but I always hate to see people stand aside while their legal rights (and dignity!) are violated. Sad to say, this kind of ugly crap happens all the time.

Unfortunately, companies like Samsuck don’t get the message until they get spanked a couple times, so until then, what flies at Samcuck Group in Seoul will continue to fly at Samsuck North America, despite very different and, frankly, more civilized legal standards and protections. I hope she’s eventually able to leave Samsuck behind.

For all my admiration of Korea’s considerable economic and political success, I have to say that the institutionalization of sexual services into even the most routine of business outings is one of the things I truly detest about the place. Every country has its pathologies, and in the U.S. that seems to be gun violence and drugs, but in Korea its the unabashed commodification of women.

Samsuck is merely Exhibit A.

DLB
11 gbnhj April 16, 2011 at 8:33 am: You know, normally they’d charge for a fist-pump.
12 jefferyhodges April 16, 2011 at 10:17 am: “They claimed the law threatens their livelihood.”

Not to mention their ‘lively hood,’ which explains why their pimps also showed up to protest . . .

Jeffery Hodges

* * *
13 Darth Babaganoosh April 16, 2011 at 11:33 am: “threatening their livelihood”…. so the law is actually having some effect.

The only real effect is driving them from their glass boxes to the Internet.
14 SomeguyinKorea April 16, 2011 at 11:33 am: WK,

Can’t you take a hint? Have your friend give DLB a call. He’s a lawyer. He’ll make her rich.
15 SomeguyinKorea April 16, 2011 at 11:34 am: #13,

The neon lights for the massage parlors are still shinning bright at night.
16 jefferyhodges April 16, 2011 at 12:52 pm: Shinning? Is that shining or sinning? Or both?

Jeffery Hodges

* * *
17 Darth Babaganoosh April 16, 2011 at 7:31 pm: #15,

They (plus the business clubs, dallan jujeoms, room salons, etc) haven’t been affected, which is why I didn’t mention them. The glass houses HAVE been closing down, though.

I suppose there is another effect of these laws: without them, we probably would never have seen the appearance (or the “need” for them) of kiss bangs and now hug bangs. No prostitution happening in there. Just kissing and hugging.
18 Brendon Carr April 16, 2011 at 7:47 pm: Have your friend give DLB a call. He’s a lawyer. He’ll make her rich.

Plus, from his comments today and previously, it seems that David Barch hates Samsung with a white-hot burning passion. That’s exactly the kind of advocate you want — one who would relish fighting hammer-and-tongs with your enemy.
19 Railwaycharm April 17, 2011 at 6:33 am: @6 DLB, Times square is an up-market mall in the Youngdung-po Rotary. It has all the trappings and a Marriott hotel. It is adjacent to the red-light district that the hamlet is better known for. So, you can get your ashes hauled and buy that snappy Chanel kabong for the missus.
20 DLBarch April 17, 2011 at 7:01 am: The transition of this thread from prostitution to Samsuck is apropos. Unlike, say, LG or Hyundai, Samsuck holds a special place in the hierarchy of disreputable companies that is unique. Some companies, regardless of their national origins, just seem to make a collective decision to be sleezy.

This also reflects a very Silicon Valley view of Samsuck. The SV business model is no stranger to hard-edged business practices. But one would have to go back to how the Valley thought of Microsoft in the 1990s to find anything close to the level of contempt the Valley has for Samsuck today.

Google “Steve Jobs” and “Samsung” and you’ll get just a mild taste of how deep this sentiment is. I’m quite happy to share it.

DLB
21 DLBarch April 19, 2011 at 12:44 pm: And we’re off: Apple is suing Samsuck. Big time!

This couldn’t have come soon enough, or have happened to a more disreputable company! Let the litigation begin!

DLB
22 DLBarch April 19, 2011 at 1:46 pm: Damn. It’s almost 10 pm on the West Coast and Apple’s complaint is STILL not available on PACER.

C’mon, Northern District, let’s get movin’! Jeez!

DLB