During and following the Korean War , the United States military used regulated prostitution services in South Korean military camptowns. Despite prostitution being illegal since , women in South Korea were the fundamental source of sex services for the U. Prostitutes servicing members of the U. They have been referred to as "bar girls", "special entertainers", "comfort women", "hostesses", and "business women".
The women are also referred to as U. Juicy girls is a common name for Filipina prostitutes. The early s also saw the two women's rights movements diverge: on one side the one representing the Cheongsindae comfort women for the Japanese military , and on the other side the movement representing the Gijichon Camptown for the US military.
Despite many women on both sides being victims of forced labor, those who supported Cheongsidae believed the kijich'on women were willing participants in the system of prostitution and sexually promiscuous. Beginning in , an institutionalized system of prostitution was adopted and permitted by the U. Despite the United States Forces Korea 's policy stating, "Hiring prostitutes is incompatible with our military core values", [32] there is a discrepancy between "practice" and "policy".
Hodge, occupied South Korea after Korea's liberation from Japan. This also included Imperial Japanese comfort stations. Once the U. By confining the prostitutes to within a small area, the U. As the U. This abolished licensed prostitution; however, the law increased the proliferation of private prostitution.
The aftermath of the Korean War resulted in extreme poverty and chaos. This produced a large influx in prostitutes as women resorted to sex work in order to support themselves and their family members. The Second Republic viewed prostitution as something of a necessity. Park Chung-hee , who ruled South Korea during the s and s, and the father of the former president Park Geun-hye , encouraged the sex industry in order to generate revenue, particularly from the U.
