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{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see ] -->
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{{POV|date=April 2015}} {{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Human Rights in North Korea |expanded=Human rights abuses}} {{Human Rights in North Korea |expanded=Human rights abuses}}
'''Prostitution in North Korea''' is illegal and is not visible to visitors. Accounts given by some ] say that a collection of women called the '']'' provided sexual entertainment to high-ranking officials until 2011. Meanwhile, some North Korean women who migrate to China become involved in prostitution.
⚫ '''Prostitution in North Korea''' is punishable by up to two years labour if engaged in 'multiple times'.<ref>Article 261 {{cite web|title=The Criminal Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|url=https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/The%20Criminal%20Law%20of%20the%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Korea_2009_%20(1).pdf|website=]|accessdate=17 March 2018|date=2009}}</ref> According to analysis by ] officer Helen-Louise Hunter published in 1999, there is no organized ], but some prostitution is still practiced discreetly.<ref>''Kim Il-song's North Korea'' by Helen-Louise Hunter.Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p 107</ref> While defectors report widespread prostitution, this is not experienced by visitors to the country.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hyams|first1=James|title=Does North Korea have sex trade and drug problem?|url=http://www.koreaobserver.com/north-korea-sex-trade-and-drug-problem-26094/|website=The Korea Observer|accessdate=10 February 2018|date=4 February 2015}}</ref>


==State prostitution== ==Private prostitution==

⚫ Under Article 261 of the criminal law, prostitution is punishable by up to two years labour if engaged in "multiple times".<ref>Article 261 {{cite web|title=The Criminal Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea|url=https://www.hrnk.org/uploads/pdfs/The%20Criminal%20Law%20of%20the%20Democratic%20Republic%20of%20Korea_2009_%20(1).pdf|website=]|access-date=17 March 2018|date=2009}}</ref> According to ] analyst Helen-Louise Hunter, during the rule of ], there was no organized ], but some prostitution was still practiced discreetly near railroad stations and restaurants.<ref>''Kim Il-song's North Korea'' by Helen-Louise Hunter.Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p 107</ref> While defectors currently report widespread prostitution, this is not experienced by visitors to the country.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hyams|first1=James|title=Does North Korea have sex trade and drug problem?|url=http://www.koreaobserver.com/north-korea-sex-trade-and-drug-problem-26094/|website=The Korea Observer|access-date=10 February 2018|date=4 February 2015}}</ref>

==Kippumjo==
{{main|Kippumjo}} {{main|Kippumjo}}
The ''kippŭmjo'' is an alleged collection of groups of approximately 2,000 women and girls that is maintained by the ] of ] for the purpose of providing pleasure, mostly of a sexual nature, and entertainment for high-ranking ] (WPK) officials and their families, as well as occasionally distinguished guests. Its ] are known as ''manjokcho'' ({{lang|ko-Hang|만족조}} "satisfaction team(s)") and are organised as a part of the ''kippŭmjo'', who are drafted from among 14- to 20-year-old ], trained for about 20 months, and often "ordered to marry guards of {{bracket|]}} or national heroes" when they are 25 years old.<ref name=jeongjs /> For a girl selected to serve in the ''kippŭmjo'', it is impossible to refuse, even if she is the daughter of a party official.<ref name=jeongjs /> ''Manjokcho'' must have ] with male high-ranking ] officials. Their services are not available to most North Korean men.<ref name=jeongjs /> Not all ''kippŭmjo'' work as prostitutes—the source used is unclear as to whether only adult women are assigned to prostitution, or whether there is ]; other ''kippŭmjo'' activities are massaging and half-naked singing and dancing. The ''kippŭmjo'' is an alleged collection of groups of approximately 2,000 women and girls that was maintained by the ] of ] for the purpose of providing pleasure, mostly of a sexual nature, and entertainment for high-ranking ] (WPK) officials and their families, as well as occasionally distinguished guests. Its ] were known as ''manjokcho'' ({{lang|ko-Hang|만족조}} "satisfaction team(s)") and were organised as a part of the ''kippŭmjo'', who were drafted from among 14- to 20-year-old ], trained for about 20 months, and often "ordered to marry guards of ] or national heroes" when they are 25 years old.


For a girl selected to serve in the ''kippŭmjo'', it was impossible to refuse, even if she was the daughter of a party official. ''Manjokcho'' were obliged to have sex with high-ranking male officials of the WPK. Their services were not available to most North Korean men.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2004-2.html|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322212930/http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2004-2.html|archive-date=22 March 2013|title=Intervention Agenda Item 12: Elimination of Violence Against Women (at the UNHCR)|website=A Woman's Voice|date=April 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-6.html |title=United Nations NGO Committee in New York to suspend A Woman's Voice International|website=A Woman's Voice|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723152410/http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-6.html |archive-date=23 July 2008 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-3.html|title=Testimony of Bob Fu|date=19 April 2005|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723152449/http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-3.html|archive-date=23 July 2008|website=A Woman's Voice}}</ref>
⚫ ==Sex trafficking of North Koreans in China==
⚫ {{see also|Human trafficking in North Korea}}
The North Korean government system of harsh punishment through forced labor camps or the death penalty can fuel trafficking in neighboring China.<ref name="state17" /> Many of the estimated 10,000<ref>{{cite web|title=2008 USCRI RefugeesReportChina |url=http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=2127 |publisher=USCRI News |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111091210/http://www.refugees.org/countryreports.aspx?id=2127 |archivedate=November 11, 2009 }}</ref> North Korean women and girls who have migrated illegally to China to flee abuse and human rights violations are particularly vulnerable to trafficking.<ref name="state17" /><ref>"China: Korean women forced into sex slavery" by Carol Anne Douglas. '']'', March 3, 2004</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Smuggling, Sex And Slavery |newspaper=] |date=2008-11-13 |url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/North-Koreans-In-Prostitution-And-Slavery-After-Crossing-The-Border-Illegally-Into-China/Article/200811215150156 |accessdate=2008-11-17 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211173232/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/North-Koreans-In-Prostitution-And-Slavery-After-Crossing-The-Border-Illegally-Into-China/Article/200811215150156? |archivedate=February 11, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014"/> According to a source from 2005, "60 to 70 percent of ] in the ] are women, 70 to 80 percent of whom are victims of human trafficking."<ref name=jeongjs>""{{dead link|date=April 2016}} at the ] in April 2004; speaker: Ji Sun JEONG for ''A Woman's Voice International'' (AWVI, an NGO that focused on the PRC's and DPRK's treatment of ] and of Christians). Incidentally, exactly one year after her speech, the ]'s Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations, which "is the UN body that adjudicates requests by nongovernmental organizations for accreditation to participate in ECOSOC and its subsidiaries' meetings", suspended AWVI at the instigation of the PRC's delegation. This came after another AWVI speaker activated a Chinese taser gun to illustrate torture by PRC authorities while giving his speech at the ]'s 61st plenary session.{{cite web|url=http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-6.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=February 22, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723152410/http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-6.html |archivedate=July 23, 2008 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-3.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=February 22, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723152449/http://www.awomansvoice.org/nl1-2005-3.html |archivedate=July 23, 2008 }}</ref>


Not all ''kippŭmjo'' worked as prostitutes; other ''kippŭmjo'' activities were massaging and half-naked singing and dancing.{{Cn|date=September 2023}}
Traffickers reportedly lure, drug, detain, or kidnap some North Korean women upon their arrival. The women are then moved to cities farther away to subjected to ] in ]s or through internet sex sites, or compelled service as hostesses in ]s or ]s. Others offer jobs but subsequently force the women into prostitution.<ref name="state17">{{cite web|title=Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 2017 Trafficking in Persons Report|url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2017/271218.htm|website=U.S. Department of State}}{{PD-notice}}</ref>


The ''kippŭmjo'' were disbanded shortly after ], although in 2015 it was reported that his successor ] was restarting it.<ref name="Squad">{{cite web|title=North Korea reportedly recruiting women to joint 'pleasure squad' for Kim Jong Un|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/03/north-korea-reportedly-recruiting-new-members-for-kim-jong-un-pleasure-squad/?intcmp=trending|website=Fox News|publisher=FoxNews.com|date=3 April 2015|access-date=6 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170503195449/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/03/north-korea-reportedly-recruiting-new-members-for-kim-jong-un-pleasure-squad.html|archive-date=3 May 2017}}</ref>
When Chinese authorities arrest these North Korean trafficking victims, they repatriate them. North Korean authorities keep such repatriates in penal labour colonies, execute any Chinese-fathered babies of theirs "to protect North Korean ]" and force ]s on all pregnant repatriates not executed.<ref name=jeongjs /><ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014"/>

==Sex trafficking==
⚫ {{see also|Human trafficking in North Korea|North Korean defectors}}
North Korea is a source country for women and children who are subjected to sex trafficking. The ] ] ranks North Korea as a ']' country.<ref name="state18">{{cite web |title=Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report |url=https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282684.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180729141433/https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2018/282684.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 July 2018 |website=U.S. Department of State |access-date=26 July 2018}}</ref>

⚫ ===Prostitution of North Koreans in China===
{{see also|Prostitution in China#North Korean prostitutes in China}}
Some North Korean women who migrate to China become prostitutes, either voluntarily or forcibly. According to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights, when the women are repatriated to North Korea, they are subjected to ] and their mixed race children are subject to infanticide.<ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014"/>


==See also== ==See also==
{{Portal|North Korea|Sexuality}} {{Portal|North Korea|Human sexuality}}
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{{reflist|refs= {{reflist|refs=


<ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014">{{cite journal |first1= Michael Donald|last1=Kirby |authorlink1=Michael Kirby (judge) |first2=Sonja |last2=Biserko |authorlink2=Sonja Biserko |first3= Marzuki|last3=Darusman |authorlink3=Marzuki Darusman |date=7 February 2014 |title=Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea - A/HRC/25/CRP.1 |journal= |volume= |issue= |pages= |publisher=] |url= http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104633/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc | archivedate= February 27, 2014 |deadurl=no |quote= }}</ref> <ref name="United Nations Human Rights Council 2014">{{cite web |first1= Michael Donald|last1=Kirby |author-link1=Michael Kirby (judge) |first2=Sonja |last2=Biserko |author-link2=Sonja Biserko |first3= Marzuki|last3=Darusman |author-link3=Marzuki Darusman |date=7 February 2014 |title=Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - A/HRC/25/CRP.1 |publisher=] |url= http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140227104633/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/CoIDPRK/Report/A.HRC.25.CRP.1_ENG.doc | archive-date= February 27, 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref>


}} }}
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==External links== ==External links==
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{{Asia in topic|Prostitution in}} {{Asia in topic|Prostitution in}}



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Latest revision as of 05:32, 21 December 2024

Part of a series on
Human rights in North Korea
Human rights abuses
Political prisons (Kwanliso)
Re-education camps (Kyohwaso)
Abductions and POWs
International reactions

Prostitution in North Korea is illegal and is not visible to visitors. Accounts given by some North Korean defectors say that a collection of women called the kippumjo provided sexual entertainment to high-ranking officials until 2011. Meanwhile, some North Korean women who migrate to China become involved in prostitution.

Private prostitution

Under Article 261 of the criminal law, prostitution is punishable by up to two years labour if engaged in "multiple times". According to CIA analyst Helen-Louise Hunter, during the rule of Kim Il Sung, there was no organized prostitution, but some prostitution was still practiced discreetly near railroad stations and restaurants. While defectors currently report widespread prostitution, this is not experienced by visitors to the country.

Kippumjo

Main article: Kippumjo

The kippŭmjo is an alleged collection of groups of approximately 2,000 women and girls that was maintained by the head of state of North Korea for the purpose of providing pleasure, mostly of a sexual nature, and entertainment for high-ranking Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) officials and their families, as well as occasionally distinguished guests. Its prostitutes were known as manjokcho (만족조 "satisfaction team(s)") and were organised as a part of the kippŭmjo, who were drafted from among 14- to 20-year-old virgins, trained for about 20 months, and often "ordered to marry guards of Kim Jong Il or national heroes" when they are 25 years old.

For a girl selected to serve in the kippŭmjo, it was impossible to refuse, even if she was the daughter of a party official. Manjokcho were obliged to have sex with high-ranking male officials of the WPK. Their services were not available to most North Korean men.

Not all kippŭmjo worked as prostitutes; other kippŭmjo activities were massaging and half-naked singing and dancing.

The kippŭmjo were disbanded shortly after Kim Jong Il's death in 2011, although in 2015 it was reported that his successor Kim Jong Un was restarting it.

Sex trafficking

See also: Human trafficking in North Korea and North Korean defectors

North Korea is a source country for women and children who are subjected to sex trafficking. The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks North Korea as a 'Tier 3' country.

Prostitution of North Koreans in China

See also: Prostitution in China § North Korean prostitutes in China

Some North Korean women who migrate to China become prostitutes, either voluntarily or forcibly. According to the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights, when the women are repatriated to North Korea, they are subjected to forced abortion and their mixed race children are subject to infanticide.

See also

References

  1. Article 261 "The Criminal Law of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" (PDF). Committee for Human Rights in North Korea. 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. Kim Il-song's North Korea by Helen-Louise Hunter.Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, p 107
  3. Hyams, James (4 February 2015). "Does North Korea have sex trade and drug problem?". The Korea Observer. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
  4. "Intervention Agenda Item 12: Elimination of Violence Against Women (at the UNHCR)". A Woman's Voice. April 2004. Archived from the original on 22 March 2013.
  5. "United Nations NGO Committee in New York to suspend A Woman's Voice International". A Woman's Voice. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
  6. "Testimony of Bob Fu". A Woman's Voice. 19 April 2005. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008.
  7. "North Korea reportedly recruiting women to joint 'pleasure squad' for Kim Jong Un". Fox News. FoxNews.com. 3 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. "Democratic People's Republic of Korea 2018 Trafficking in Persons Report". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  9. Kirby, Michael Donald; Biserko, Sonja; Darusman, Marzuki (7 February 2014). "Report of the detailed findings of the commission of inquiry on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea - A/HRC/25/CRP.1". United Nations Human Rights Council. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014.

Further reading

  • Kim, Eunyoung, Mirang Park, Hue Williams. "A Case Study of Trafficking in North Korean Women in China". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Nov 13, 2007
  • Yoon, Bang-Soon. "Sex-Trafficking and Human Rights of North Korean Women Defectors". Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Studies Association 48th Annual Convention, USA, Feb 28, 2007

External links

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