The reaction came after the U.S. Department of Labor issued a report on the
status of human trafficking in the 137 countries it surveyed.
A Labor Ministry official discounted the report as ``groundless,'' saying that
there has not been any reports that children from Kyrgyzstan or other countries
were trafficked to South Korea.
``We have no data and information that foreign children are sexually exploited
here,'' he added.
A Justice Ministry spokesman denied the accusation, saying it is currently
examining them.
``The U.S. report failed to provide exact data and figures, and leaves us with
few clues. There is no credible evidence that South Korea is involved in human
trafficking,'' said an official at the ministry's immigration bureau.
``Right now, we are discussing with the Labor Ministry and other government
agencies to make an official response to the report,'' he said.
The report lists Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Kyrgystan and Romania as some of the
countries that traffic women and children to South Korea.
Many of the women and children, who end up in developed countries like South
Korea, often become sexually enslaved, the report said. However, the survey
failed to give any specific figures.
Indonesia traffics children who often become sexually enslaved, said the
report, and women and girls as young as 10 years old from Kyrgyzstan are
transported for sexual exploitation and end up in countries like South Korea,
the report said.
The Kyrgyzstan government has established contacts with South Korea's
law-enforcement agencies to address the issue, it said.
Sri Lankan children are trafficked to South Korea, Middle Eastern countries, Singapore and Hong Kong for sexual enslavement and other forms of exploitative labor, it said.
