Korea, Republic of
Executive summary
This study which is part of IOM Seoul’s continuing effort to bring together and publicize accurate information on trafficking in the Republic of Korea (hereafter South Korea) collects and presents data that were locally gathered by South Korean organizations. However in preparing this study it became immediately evident that there is not a clear or consistent definition of trafficking in South Korea. This in turn deprived researchers of a lucid delineation on what to measure in order to estimate the scale of trafficking in South Korea. In addition even though there is trafficking of both local and foreign women from South Korea into other countries this is not always regarded as trafficking so there afe few resources available which are useful to study trafficking out of South Korea.
Responses of the government of South Korea and of South Korean NGOs
The release of the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report in July 2001 resulted in a subsequent response/rebuttal prepared by the Government of the Republic of Korea (GOK)to its Tier 3 ranking in this report. The timing of this report was quite fortunate for this particular IOM Seoul review of South Korean trafficking data as it produced a timely official GOK response to almost all of the issues addressed in this document. Furthermore following the issuance of the GOK rebuttal to the US State Department’s report a previously scheduled South Korean NGO symposium was held that in effect generated what could be looked upon as a rebuttal to the GOK’s response. It is rare that circumstances provide an opportunity to compare contemporary evaluations of an issue by government officials and informed outside observers.
Migration in Korea
As can be gathered from the preceding introduction the trafficking problem in South Korea has peculiarities that require a brief explanation. This section attempts to discuss migration and the sex industry in their Korean contexts in order to demonstrate how circumstances in Korea render trafficking (i.e. the trade of minors and women into South Korea) an issue more closely associated with the sex industry than with other migration issues.
Working conditions - the South Korean entertainment industry
The working conditions of trafficked women in South Korea’s entertainment dustry are not good.
Introduction
Since 1999 the Seoul Office of the International Organization for Migration (IOM Seoul) has been involved with a local network of women’s organizations and researchers working on issues related to trafficking into the Republic of Korea. IOM Seoul has also assisted the local media in the production of a news magazine programme on the topic of Filipina entertainers (i.e. sex workers/trafficking victims) and has actively participated in a series of meetings in which a network of women’s organizations was established for the purpose of exchanging information on this problem and exploring programmatic possibilities.
Summary and recommendations
This study is part of IOM Seoul’s continuing effort to collect and publicize accurate information on trafficking of human beings in South Korea. This collection and presentation of locally gathered data should greatly encourage those South Korean organizations that confront issues related to trafficking to continue their efforts to study and report on these problems.