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Compensated dating
By Lee Dong-wook
July 3, 2003
One of the things I found interesting since I started attending an American law
school was how rare wonjo kyoje, or "compensated dating" in literal
translation, was in the United States. Many of my American classmates did not
even know what it was.
Wonjo kyoje refers to the act of buying sex from teenage girls, teenage
prostitution, to be more precise. And a number of laws have been enacted in
Korea in response to growing incidences of wonjo kyoje.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled on June 26 this year that revealing
the identities of sex offenders is not unconstitutional. Clause 1, Section 2,
Article 20 of the Act on the Protection of Youth Against Sex Offenses
stipulates that the identities - such as name, age, job, address,
offense - of the purchasers of sex from minors be revealed on the Web site
of the Korean Commission on Youth Protection (KCYP) and bulletin boards of its
district offices nationwide.
Although five out of nine judges expressed concerns that the clause itself was
unconstitutional, the ruling was not overturned as a minimum of six justices
are required by law for a clause to be ruled unconstitutional. The KCYP has
been revealing the identities of sex offenders since 2001 despite controversies
surrounding the issue. People raised questions about whether it was fair to
reveal the identities of only sex offenders, whether it infringed on the
privacy rights guaranteed by Article 17 of the Constitution, and whether people
had the right to know who sex offenders were.
In the U.S., I was unable to find a single news coverage on a case similar to
that of wonjo kyoje. I searched through almost all case files at the Family
Court of St. Louis County where I am working as a summer intern now, but
couldn’t find one single such case. And I finally figured out why wonjo kyoje
is rare here.
"Survival sex" might be a concept most similar to wonjo kyoje. But in most
cases, women in need of money to buy clothes and food engage in such sexual
activities, and they don’t necessarily have to be teenagers. But most Korean
teenage girls involved in wonjo kyoje are not seriously indigent.
While they vary from state to state, most state courts regard teenagers selling
sex as nothing more than prostitutes, and will be arrested on charges of
prostitution. In a worse case, those who habitually sell sex will be tried as
adults through a confirmation hearing. And those engaged in sexual activities
with teenagers will be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law. Whether
by mutual consent or not, the moment one has sex with a minor, he or she has
committed a statutory rape, and will be classified as a sex offender and have
identity revealed.
As part of the 1994 Violent Crime Control Law Enforcement Act, the U.S.
Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually
Violent Offenders Registration Act. The Act sets forth guidelines for states to
establish sex offender registry programs. In 1996, the Wetterling Act was
amended as Megan’s Law, which requires states to release relevant information
about registered sex offenders to protect the public. This law bears the name
of Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old girl who was sexually molested and murdered by
a convicted sex offender after being invited into his house to play. Under the
law, compulsive sex offenders who repeatedly commit similar crimes are
classified as "high" and they are required to update personal information,
including home addresses, every year and are placed under close supervision by
the police chief of the county he or she resides. In some states such as Texas
and Alaska, they have to place tags identifying them as sex offenders on their
houses and vehicles.
Compared with U.S. laws, Korean laws are too lenient toward sex offenders.
According to the Act on the Protection of Youth Against Sex Offenses, those who
bought sex from a minor has only to pay 20 million won (about $17,000) in fine
or serve up to 3 years in prison. Those responsible for arranging such a crime
faces a fine of only 30 million won (about $25,000) or a prison sentence of up
to 5 years. Teenagers who sell sex are exempted from criminal convictions and
their identities will not be released.
Korean society is trying to crack down on sexual offenses against minors with
such lenient laws, and the KCYP seems to think the problem can be solved by
regulating only the demand side of the sex market.
As an economist-turned-law student, I can tell them that a transaction takes
place whenever supply and demand find an equilibrium. People engage in
transactions when they think returns exceed costs. In other words, if a buyer
of sex from a minor thinks the joy of sex is greater than the possibility of
paying fines or having his/her identity revealed, in most cases, he or she
would choose to go ahead with the act. And if a teenage seller of sex thinks
the monetary benefit is greater than the possible risk, which is virtually nil
in Korea, in most cases, he or she will engage in a sexual activity.
I would like to take this opportunity to tell those at the commission to brush
up on economics. Economist Jean Baptist Say was right when he announced that
supply constitutes demand.
I believe the solution to rampant wonjo kyoje in Korea is very simple and it
should be adopted as soon as possible before Korean society witnesses another
Jacob Wetterling or Megan Kanka.
First, the law should be redrafted so that every single information (especially
photos) on the identities of sex offenders are disclosed to the public.
Second, attack the supply side of the market as well. In other words, convict
those teenagers who are engaged in repetitive selling of sex and reveal their
identities.
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