The Philippines Prevents Trafficking Around U.S. Military Bases in S. Korea

In South Korea, "juicy bars" serve drinks to American GIs, foreign visitors, and locals. But many of them also serve up sex.

Specifically, they serve sex with young Filipinas who went to South Korea looking for work, but instead found themselves trapped in prostitution at a "juicy bar." This exploitation has become such a severe problem that the Philippines is considering preventing any women from securing visas to work in South Korean establishments.

Perhaps one of the most important details about these bars is that, despite the U.S. military's "zero-tolerance" prostitution policy, American soldiers frequent establishments where both voluntary prostitution and human trafficking are taking place. Here's how the "juicy bar" system works: Filipina women are brought to South Korea by brokers as "entertainers." The brokers then rent the women out to bars, priced depending on the girl's "talents" or attractiveness and the bar's needs. There, they flirt with and kiss soldiers and tourists, in an attempt to keep them buying the girls expensive juice drinks. If a girl sells her quota of juice drinks in the evening, all is usually well. But if she doesn't, she's expected to make up the difference. And her only means of doing that is prostitution.

Most of these women come to South Korea thinking they will be performers, and not because they're naive. Unlike other countries, Filipina women must pass a vocal audience in front of real judges to get their entertainer visa. But they always find out after they arrive abroad that their primary job is to flirt, and that if they're not an expert enough flirt, to prostitute themselves. It would be like boarding the plane to Las Vegas after a successful American Idol audition only to find that when you arrived, there was no show. Only compulsory work as a cocktail waitress with a side of prostitution.

U.S. military officials know that service men hang out at "juicy bars" from time to time. They claim to be vigilant in monitoring illegal activities at bars nears bases, especially human trafficking. However, they won't ban soldiers from going to "juicy bars" outright -- only the ones where human trafficking has been proven. There are currently about 50 such bars on the military's list of establishments where service members are not allowed.

If the Philippines imposes a ban, that could mean a serious labor shortage for South Korea. The chances are pretty high they'd just start importing girls from other places in the area, like Laos and Thailand. On the other hand, if the U.S. military imposed a ban, that might actually change the industry.

Photo credit: risager