23 Jul SEX WORKERS WAGE WAR TO PROTECT BROTHELS
outh Korean pimps, madams and prostitutes anticipate they can earn plenty of cash during the upcoming 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Accordingly, they have publicly pledged to fight to the death against police crackdowns on their business interests. They’ve launched massive protests on the streets of Seoul.
The China Post reports that, “the pimps and prostitutes of Yeongdeungpo start the day as if preparing for a siege, stocking their brothels with flammable liquid and gas containers. Large, red-lettered signs warn police that they’re willing to die to protect their livelihoods.”
A 47-year-old madam who would only giver her surname Sohn, said, “we can turn on the gas and light the flames. We know that we don’t have much chance of winning … but we’re ready to die fighting.”
The protests by sex workers against police crackdowns occur occasionally in South Korea, but the demonstrations in Yeongdeungpo have attracted hundreds of other prostitutes, pimps, madams, clients and supporters, which have been unusual in their size, organization and fury.