The Government of the Republic of Korea (ROK or South Korea) does not meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The government continues to make improvements but South Korea has been lowered to Tier 2. The government demonstrated serious and sustained efforts by identifying and providing services to a comparable number of victims relative to the previous reporting period, increasing inspections of entertainment businesses, and increasing efforts to reduce the demand for commercial sex acts. Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not adequately address labor trafficking; the government investigated and prosecuted fewer cases, and penalized and deported trafficking victims due to inadequate identification efforts.
U.S. State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons placed the country in "Tier 2" in 2023.
Sex trafficking
Despite (or because of) the illegality of prostitution in the country, sex trafficking is prevalent. Sex trafficking victims in South Korea are often sold in kissing rooms, massage parlours, and karaoke bars. The majority of women enter sex work through job advertisements in newspaper, magazines, or the internet. Advertisements look like legitimate jobs, but women are required to engage in sex service once they are hired. Some women voluntarily enter for survival. Regardless of how they enter sex work, brothels abuse them economically, physically, and mentally. Procurers use debt bondage and lure women in with advance payments. They write employment contracts so that it is virtually impossible to pay back the debt. Contracts involve heavy penalties for failing to generate daily profits for owners. They eventually become stuck in increasing debt, and cannot get away from procurers.
Prosecution
The government maintained law enforcement efforts. In 2004 prostitution was criminalized. In 2002, prostitution turnover was still 24 trillion won ($22 billion), but the ban in 2010 reduced this to 6.9 trillion won ($6.2 billion). Furthermore, Chapter 31 of the criminal code criminalized sex and labor trafficking and prescribed penalties of up to 15 years imprisonment for trafficking crimes, which were sufficiently stringent and, with respect to sex trafficking, commensurate with penalties prescribed for other serious crimes, such as rape. In 2017, the government reported investigating 448 reported trafficking cases (562 in 2016), indicting 327 suspects (426 in 2016), and convicting 127 offenders (127 in 2016). Police investigated three cases of forced labor involving disabled victims. The government did not initiate any prosecutions under the trafficking statute in 2017. Of those convicted, 42 received suspended sentences and three were sentenced to a fine. Law enforcement entities did not have dedicated anti-trafficking teams. The government cooperated with foreign governments in the investigation and prosecution of sex trafficking cases. The government held numerous trainings throughout the year for prosecutors and law enforcement officers on sex trafficking issues and victim protection; however, government trainings did not address labor trafficking. Officials’ understanding of human trafficking continued to be limited and inconsistent; there remained widespread, false perceptions that kidnapping, buying and selling, physical force, or confinement were required to qualify a case as trafficking. As a result, law enforcement and prosecutors pursued most trafficking offenses under provisions of the law with the less severe penalties. A police officer who engaged in commercial sex acts with a child was convicted under the act on the protection of child and juveniles against sexual abuse and sentenced to a fine of 15 million Korean Won ($14,070) and 40 hours of “john school.”