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KOREAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women
for Sexual Exploitation to the United States:
A Critical Analysis of Transnational Displacement
and Anti
‐
Trafficking Measures
Joon Oh Jang
․
Kyungseok Choo
․
Kyung
-
shik Choi
연구총서
09-26-02
This project was supported by a Joint Research Grant awarded by the
Korean Institute of Criminology. The Korean Institute of Criminology (KIC) is
the only national crime and criminal justice research agency in Korea. KIC
plays an important role in conducting up to date proactive research on criminal
laws, recent criminal trends, criminology, and disseminating information to
provide specialized knowledge for policymaking by the Korean government.
Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do
not represent the official position or policies of the Korean Institute of
Criminology.
❚
Joon Oh Jang, Ph.D.
Co Principal Investigator
Senior Research Fellow, Korean Institute of Criminology
❚
Kyungseok Choo, Ph.D.
Co Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Lowell
❚
Kyung
-
shik Choi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Bridgewater State College
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ············································································ 7
INTRODUCTION ·························································································· 15
Number of Trafficked Women ·········
······················································· 18
Smuggling for Sex Work vs. Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation ·· 21
Crime Displacement in Trafficking and Smuggling for Sexual
Exploitation ·······································
··························································· 25
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHOD ················································· 29
Research Site ··················································
··········································· 30
Primary Research Strategies: Recruitment and Interviews ············ 32
Supplementary Research Strategies ···················································· 34
Sampling Design ························································································ 35
Contacting Subjects and Field Relationship ······································ 36
Methods of Data Collection ····························································
········ 38
Participant Observation ········································································· 38
Interviewing ···························································································· 39
Method of Analysis ·······················
···························································· 41
Validity Issues ·······································
····················································· 42
Ethical Issues ··············································
··············································· 43
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PARTICIPANTS ···················45
Demographic Characteristics ································································· 48
Previous Experience and Motivation ·····················································51
CONTENTS
KOREAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY
TRAFFICKING ORGANIZATION AND CHARACTERISTICS ···· 55
Structural Characteristics ········································································ 57
Size and Network ··················································································· 57
Roles ················
························································································· 63
SEX TRAFFICKING AND SMUGGLING PROCESS ····················· 69
Recruitment ··············································································
··················· 70
Trafficking/Smuggling Route ·································································· 74
Embedded after their arrival to the U.S. ············
································ 76
TRANSNATIONAL CRIME DISPLACEMENT ·································· 79
News Content Analysis ············································································ 84
Theoretical Explanation on Crime Displacement ······························· 92
CONCLUSION ····························································································· 95
REFERENCES CITED ··············································································· 99
Appendix A ······························································································· 107
Appendix B ································································································ 110
KOREAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY
Table of Figures
Figure 4.1. Korean Sex Trafficking/Smuggling network ring
in the United States ························································· 59
Figure 5.1. Korean Human Traffi cking Process in the U.S.
Federal Case ····································································· 70
Figure 5.2. Example of Internet Ad ···················································· 71
Figure 5.3. Example of Newspaper Ad ············································· 71
Figure 5.4. Map of Trafficking/Smuggling Route ····························· 75
Figure 5.5. U.S. Domestic Sex Trade Process ································ 77
Figure 6.1. Tactical and Transnational Spatial Displacement ········ 86
Figure 6.2. Most Frequently Cited Nations engaged in
Overseas Sex Trade involving Korean Women ··········· 89
Figure 6.3. The Number of News Articles Containing Displacement
and Overseas Sex Trips from 2004 to 2009 ·············· 91
List of Table
Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of Participants: Owners/
Managers, Non
‐
trafficked women, and Trafficked women 47
Table 2. Types of Tactical Displacement ·········································· 87
Table 3. Frequency of Nations Cited for Transnational Spatial
Displacement between 2004 and 2009 ···························· 90
KOREAN INSTITUTE OF CRIMINOLOGY
7
Executive Summary
The objective of the study is to contribute to a comprehensive understanding of
human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation among Korean women
to the United States. The study provides empirical evidence of human
trafficking and smuggling of Korean women as an emerging transnational social
problem by examining general characteristics of trafficked and smuggled Korean
women in the U.S. sex industry, organizational structure of Korean‐based
trafficking and smuggling operations in the United States, and dynamics of
Korean sex trafficking and the smuggling process. It is also designed to
provide a strong empirical and theoretical basis for assessing anti‐trafficking
measures and other policy choices. Korea, in this regard, represents a nearly
ideal case, given recent policy changes in Korea and the deportation of
hundreds of Korean women from the United States in major anti‐trafficking
operations. We are particularly concerned with understanding the impact of
specific policy choices on transnational displacement. As a result of analyzing
news with a sex trafficking and smuggling component from 2004 to 2009, the
study also provides a theoretical framework of crime displacement. We believe
that current policies have actually exacerbated, rather than helped to ameliorate,
human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
8
The objectives of the proposed research are achieved primarily through a
qualitative approach using direct interviews with owners, transporters, trafficked
and/or smuggled women in the U.S. sex industry. This approach is designed
to provide in‐depth and firsthand knowledge of the operation, dynamics, and
conditions of the trafficking and smuggling process between the U.S. and
Korea, and of the Korean‐based prostitution industry in the U.S. Recruitment
strategies are employed, including self‐identification through newspaper
advertisements and using the “snowballing” strategy. Direct interviews with
participant‐subjects are supplemented with analysis of secondary sources of
newspaper reports and U.S. federal court documents.
Findings
After the data collection and analysis were completed, the findings were
separated into four categories: characteristics of study participants, trafficking
organizations and characteristics, sex trafficking and smuggling process, and
transnational crime displacement. Highlights of these areas follow.
Characteristics of Study Participants:
A total of 22 participants were interviewed: owners/managers (N = 4), non‐
trafficked women (N = 12), and trafficked women (N = 6). We differentiate
the non‐trafficked women from the trafficked women based on the 2005
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific’s definition and
distinction of trafficking and smuggling: a) an action, consisting of recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons; b) by means of threat
or use of force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse
of power or position of vulnerability, giving or receiving payments or benefits
to achieve consent of a person having control over another; and c) for the
purpose of exploitation such as forced labor or services, the exploitation of
prostitution, or certain forms of sexual exploitation.
Executive Summary
9
Characteristics of the participants included age, level of English, immigration
status, marital status, previous experience in sex industry, and motivation.
Most of the non‐trafficked and trafficked women were in their 30s and
40s while owners and managers were in their 50s and 60s.
The group of owners/managers tends to have much higher English
proficiency scores compared to the trafficked and non‐trafficked groups.
All four participants in the owner/manager group maintained legitimate
immigration status (permanent residency or U.S. citizenship), while eleven
had a tourist visa and seven had undocumented status in both the non‐
trafficked and trafficked groups.
Twenty participants (91%) reported their status as single or divorced while
two participants answered their marital status as still married.
Seven (38.9%) out of 18 non‐trafficked and trafficked women stated that
they had also done sex‐related work before as prostitutes, or massage
parlor employees.
Eighteen (90%) out of 20 participants indicated their primary reason to
come to the U.S. was to make money. Recommendation from brokers or
friends/relatives also affected their decision to migrate; many of them were
told that they could make much more money in the U.S.A.
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
U.S. federal indictments and interview data were examined to determine the
organized nature of Korean sex trafficking and the smuggling operation
business in the United States.
The federal indictment case with 41 defendants showed five
middlemen/transporters connected with 30 independent owners and two
managers of brothels as well as four illegal money transmitters.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
10
Owners and illegal money transmitters ran their own respective
businesses. Thirty independent owners had operated various prostitution
businesses throughout the Northeast region of the U.S.
The size of the middlemen group varied from one person to many.
They acted as a conduit for communications between and among the
prostitution business owners and Korean women in the U.S. sex
industry. Primarily through these communications, they arranged and
transported Korean women working as prostitutes throughout the
Northeastern U.S. They also assisted brothel owners and Korean
women working in brothels in transmitting proceeds from their brothel
activities to Korea through unlicensed money transmitters.
The size of the prostitute business was three to eleven workers.
Almost all the prostitute businesses were run by a single female
owner. Some owners had multiple operations in different locations.
The federal investigation case indicated that one owner operated four
brothels. One owner who we interviewed ran nine massage parlors at
different establishments in one city.
The size of an illegal money transmitter group was typically one or
two. Wives of the middlemen and the illegal money transmitters often
participated since each transaction required a large sum of cash (from
$4,000 up to $100,000 per transaction) to be delivered.
Sex Trafficking and Smuggling Process
The data analysis shows the dynamics of a specific smuggling and trafficking
movement in the transnational sex trade among Korean women to the U.S. as
follows:
The recruitment of Korean women for prostitution in the United States
appears to depend heavily on the Internet and print advertising, as well
as word of mouth.
Executive Summary
11
Twelve out of 18 participants (66.7%) stated they came to the U.S.
through brokers.
Domestic trafficking organizations send women and overseas
organizations receive them. Domestic organizations’ responsibilities
include recruiting women, counterfeiting passports or other fraudulent
documents to obtain visas, and sending them off or departing with the
women from Korea through harbors and airports. U.S.‐based Korean
organizations’ responsibilities include receiving women, transporting
them from arrival points to final destinations, and running the sex
trade business with them.
The typical trafficking and smuggling route reached from South Korea
to Japan, then to Canada or Mexico, and finally to the U.S. In
addition to Japan being the first transit nation for the trafficking and
smuggling of Korean women, Canada and Mexico were also major
transit nations.
Five participants mentioned that they worked at various sex trade
businesses in Japan. Four participants mentioned that they used
Canada as a transit nation while one Korean-Chinese came to the U.S.
via Mexico.
By the time the women were taken into the U.S., they owed the
recruiters and other brokers a large debt, ranging from $5000 to
$40,000 depending on the trafficking/smuggling route. They were
typically placed in the custody of a network of transporters/middlemen
who drove them to several prostitution businesses.
Transnational Crime Displacement
Through findings of crime displacement in human trafficking and smuggling for
sexual exploitation based on 408 newspaper articles, the study introduces a
theoretical displacement model and applies the findings to the model, so as to
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
12
improve our understanding of current anti‐trafficking policy and of control
efforts.
Out of the 408 articles, 270 (66.1%) clearly related to either
tactical or transnational spatial displacement. The number of
articles relating to tactical displacement was 174, while
transnational spatial displacement was identified in 96 articles.
Within tactical displacement, we identified 32 different forms of sex
trade and 395 counts of tactical displacements from the year 2004 to
the year 2009. (The numbers exceed the total number of news
articles because more than one case of tactical displacement can be
found in a news article). The Internet (n=67, 17%) was the most
frequently identified form of new sex trade. This is followed by
massage parlor business establishments (n=65, 16.4%), residential
locations (n=47, 11.9%), RestTel establishments (n=42, 10.6%), and
room saloons (n=37, 9.4%).
To measure transnational spatial displacement in our study, the study
examined news articles containing overseas sex trade involving Korean
women subsequent to the 2004 Act. The most frequently cited
country is the United States (n=42, 23.2%), followed by Japan (n=35,
19.3%), Australia and New Zealand together (n=28, 15.5%), Southeast
Asia (n=19, 10.5%), China (n=15, 8.2%), Taiwan (n=14, 7.7%), and
Canada (n=12, 6.6%).
No previous research on human trafficking and smuggling for sexual
exploitation has focused on the specific movement between South Korea and
the U.S.―two relatively wealthy and developed countries. South Korea’s
relatively high level of development, in particular, raises crucial questions. The
Korean case suggests, most generally, that national poverty and other related
Executive Summary
13
macro‐social factors (such as global inequality and social and political
instability) typically identified as “causes” of human trafficking and smuggling
are neither necessary nor sufficient. From a theoretical perspective, then, the
relative prosperity of South Korea encourages, even demands, a shift in
analytical focus to legal and policy‐based factors. This project examined a
range of such factors within the specific context of the trafficking and
smuggling movement between South Korea and the U.S.
The findings presented here can be used to improve our understanding of
human trafficking and smuggling, and provide a much‐needed and critical
assessment of major policy responses to human trafficking. The information
concerning offender and victim characteristics should be used in law
enforcement training. The picture that this study paints of trafficking
organizations and their sex business operations should be used to increase
proactive measures that law enforcement can use to combat human sex
trafficking and smuggling, including investigation, prevention, detection, and
prosecution. Law enforcement executives and policy makers will be able to
use this information to develop policy, allocate resources, advocate training, and
build transnational law enforcement partnerships.
15
Introduction
Human trafficking is a serious and growing transnational problem. To control
the problem equipped with effective national and international policy, scholars
suggest that smuggling and trafficking be understood in the context of
globalization and migration, while identifying a number of causal factors such
as poverty, social and economic inequality, and political and military conflicts
(Beeks and Amir 2006, Bhabha 2005, Dauvergne 2008, Kempadoo and
Doezema 1998, Limoncelli 2008, Raymond and Hughes 2001). Obviously, the
bulk of trafficking victims come from poor countries and regions with these
problems. The poorest countries in Southeast Asia and Latin America, for
example, are major sources of human trafficking and smuggling. Recently
trafficking has been increasing from the Commonwealth of Independent States,
including Russia and Central and Eastern Europe, where economic, social and
political unrest has arisen (CIA 1999, Newman 2006).
In all of these countries, per capita GDP is less than $11,500, and usually
substantially less. Moreover, the U.S. Department of State (2006) estimates that
80% of all victims of trafficking are women and girls; data shows that a
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
16
majority of female victims are trafficked into commercial sex industries. From
the above perspective, it is surprising, even entirely unexpected, that South
Korea―a wealthy country with a per capita GDP of $24,801 in 2007, and an
HDI of 0.9371)―is also a major source of trafficked women to United States.
South Korea's development into a major source of sex trafficking (and
smuggling) to the U.S. raises crucial theoretical questions. The Korean case
suggests, most generally, that increasing levels of economic wealth―and all the
macro‐social factors associated with rising prosperity, such as high educational
levels and strong social programs and protections―are not sufficient to
eliminate or even curb human trafficking or smuggling for sexual exploitation.
On the surface, too, the Korean case implies that other macro‐social factors
frequently cited as key causes of human trafficking, such as economic
inequality, political instability and violence, and disintegrating social networks,
are similarly insufficient to explain the complexities and dynamics of the
human trafficking process. This insufficiency suggests that theoretical attention
should be increased on meso or micro‐level variables, which include specific
policy choices, the role of organized or informal criminal networks, the effects
of anti‐trafficking or anti‐prostitution legislation, public awareness and
educational campaigns, intervention by anti‐trafficking organizations, and so
forth.
Examining the persistence and growth in South Korea of transnational sex
trafficking enables us to control and assess the impact of important macro‐
social or structural variables in a manner that is impossible in more poor
1) HDI refers to the United Nations Development Program’s Human Development Index,
which is a far more comprehensive statistic than per capita GDP. In 2007, Korea’s
relatively high HDI value of 0.937 ranked it 26th of 182 countries
(http://hdrstats.undp.org/countries/country_fact_sheets/cty_fs_KOR.html)
Introduction
17
countries. This assessment enables us to examine the effects and efficacy of
meso‐ and micro‐level variables, such as specific policy choices. An
examination of sex trafficking from South Korea would also provide insights
into cultural and normative factors' impacts on the trafficking process. South
Korea, for example, has a strong Confucian heritage, and our preliminary
research has shown that female Koreans in trafficking situations generally are
very hesitant to speak out against their traffickers, many did not even identify
themselves as victims of trafficking. Discerning whether there is a cultural or
normative basis for this behavior is important, particularly for developing
efficacious policy responses. Understanding that “culture matters” tells us that
micro‐level responses in public policy or NGO‐based programs need to be
tailored, or at least sensitive, to individual communities.
Our research includes the following three interrelated objectives:
First and foremost, it is designed to contribute to a comprehensive
theoretical understanding of human trafficking and smuggling for sexual
exploitation; specifically, it is meant to provide insights into why high
levels of economic and social development do not always curtail
transnational trafficking/smuggling in the sex industry.
Second, we seek to explain the dynamics of a specific smuggling and
trafficking movement in the transnational sex trade: the movement of
Korean women to the U.S. In doing so, we are primarily concerned
with identifying and analyzing the contingent or context‐dependent
characteristics of sex trafficking and smuggling from Korea.
Third, this project is meant to provide a strong empirical and
theoretical basis for assessing anti‐trafficking measures and other policy
choices. Korea, in this regard, represents a nearly ideal case, given
recent policy changes in Korea and the deportation of hundreds of
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
18
Korean women in major anti‐trafficking operations. We are particularly
concerned with understanding specific policy choices' impact on
transnational displacement and re‐trafficking. We believe that current
policies have actually exacerbated, rather than helped to ameliorate,
human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation.
Number of Trafficked Women
Although there are no precise figures (GAO 2006), estimates by a number of
organizations suggest that the scope and level of human trafficking (and
smuggling) are enormous. The International Labor Organization (2006), for
example, estimates that cumulatively, more than 12.3 million individuals are in
forced labor, bonded labor and sexual servitude throughout the world. The
Trafficking in Persons Report released by the Department of State (2006)
supports this figure with its estimate of approximately 600,000–800,000 people
trafficked across international borders annually.2) A 1999 CIA report indicates
that in the United States, as many as 50,000 women and children were
trafficked into or within the U.S. annually during the 1990s. Other reports
provide dramatically lower, but still significant, figures. In 2004, for example,
the U.S. Department of State suggested that between 14,500 and 17,500
persons are trafficked into the U.S. annually. This wide discrepancy in
estimates among agencies, it must be noted, highlights an important issue; this
data on human trafficking may be questionable.
2) The GAO report, however, questions the reliability of this and other estimates, most of
which suffer from “methodological weaknesses, gaps in data, and numerical discrepancies”
(2). The unreliability of data on human trafficking represents a serious problem, but one
that all researchers currently face. More importantly, there is little doubt among any
research organization, including the GAO, that the problem of human trafficking is
substantial and very serious.
Introduction
19
Various reasons exist for the lack of reliable data on human trafficking at the
national and international levels. Perhaps the most important is the clandestine
nature of human trafficking, which makes it almost impossible to establish a
reliable sampling frame (Laczko 2005). Other reasons such as different legal
and operational definitions, and deficiencies and inconsistencies in law
enforcement policies and practices in different nations, also contribute to the
problem. Some scholars have criticized the current knowledge of human
trafficking as being achieved through "shoddy research, anecdotal information,"
(Sanghera 2005), emotive manipulation of "wobbly" statistics (Murray 1998)
and weak, political or dogmatic bias (Di Nicola 2007). Even though there have
been some positive developments in the field (Laczko 2005), many emphasize
the lack of reliable data; therefore, solid data is needed to effectively combat
human trafficking (Lee 2007, Kelly 2002, Tyldum and Brunovskis 2005, Zhang
2007). As the GAO's study (2006) puts it, “[t]he scope of global trafficking
remains unknown in terms of overall numbers within countries of origin;
victims’ gender, age, and type of exploitation suffered; and the profile and
methods of the perpetrators” (36‐7). There is, therefore, a growing and urgent
need for research in this area, because the lack of knowledge about victims
and perpetrators, asserts the GAO, “raises questions about whether anti‐
trafficking activities are targeted where they are most needed” (37).
Because of unreliable data sources, the exact number of Korean victims
involved in trafficking is unknown. However, the Attorney General’s Annual
Report to Congress on U.S. Government Activities to Combat Trafficking in
Persons lists South Korea as the country with the highest population of
trafficking victims in 2005, and one of three countries with the highest number
in 2006 (in the U.S.). From FY04 to FY07, 72 Koreans received the human
trafficking victim certification from the U.S. government (Personal
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
20
communication with Jay Womack, Deputy Director, Anti‐Trafficking in Persons
Division, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Jan 16th, 2009). Because the U.S.
government issued only 828 certification letters to adult victims of trafficking
from FY04 to FY07, the 72 certification letters sound like a small number, but
are 8.7% of the total, and are therefore a significant proportion considering the
total number includes all types of trafficking such as commercial sex act, labor,
or service through the use of force, fraud, or coercion from all over the world.
According to Agence France Presse (2006), approximately five thousand South
Korean sex workers are believed to be working in the U.S. Although this
number does not clearly indicate whether they are smuggled and/or trafficked,
two recent but separate incidents help illustrate this point. In August 2006,
federal officials, under the code name “Operation Cold Comfort,” raided a
number of Korean human trafficking rings operating throughout the northeastern
U.S. These raids resulted in the arrest of 31 Korean brothel owners and
managers, as well as numerous middlemen (who worked as transporters and
otherwise assisted the organization). Among those detained were over 100
Korean women workings as prostitutes. A year earlier, in July 2005, another
major operation conducted in San Francisco―dubbed "Operation Gilded Cage"―
was even larger. In this case, Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE)
authorities detained 150 Korean women (in San Francisco and Los Angeles),
along with 11 brothel owners and 27 other suspects. Over the past several
years, large anti‐trafficking sweeps, primarily involving Korean‐run operations,
also have been conducted in Dallas, Denver and Atlanta.
Periodic raids on the network of brothels, bathhouses and massage parlors that
employ, entrap or entice Korean women as prostitutes provide only anecdotal
evidence. It is unmistakable, though, that in major cities such as San Francisco,
Los Angeles, New York, Dallas, Las Vegas and Denver, the number of
Introduction
21
prostituted Korean women―both smuggled and trafficked―number in the
hundreds to thousands in each city. Lim (2008) estimated the absolute lower
limit of 5,000 Korean women working in the commercial sex industry in the
U.S. Lim also indicated that there were dozens of thinly disguised, but openly
advertised, commercial sex establishments in Los Angeles alone; and dozens
more that use Korean women were hidden from public view. In addition, the
fact that Operation Gilded Cage (plus the simultaneous raid in Los Angeles)
and Operation Cold Comfort resulted in the detention of 250 Korean women
tells us that likely thousands―and perhaps tens of thousands―of Korean women
are enmeshed in smuggling/trafficking and sexual exploitation in the U.S.
It is also important to understand that sex trafficking and smuggling involving
Korean women in the U.S. are geographically widespread. Although large cities
remain the centers―or “hubs”―of activity, prostitution‐based enterprises relying
solely or primarily on Korean women can be found “all over the map,”
including in some very unlikely spots. These include, among many other
places, Providence, RI; Chattanooga, TN; Boise, ID; Sayerville, NJ; Saginaw,
MI; Quakertown, PA and Pineville, NC. With operations spread throughout the
United States, the number of Korean‐run, prostitution‐based enterprises has
been estimated at more than 1,000 (General Consulate of Republic Korea in
New York report 2006)
Smuggling for Sex Work vs. Trafficking for Sexual Exploitation
The absence of reliable data is inextricably related to the current issue on the
definition after decades of frustration and inward‐looking debate about the
distinction between human trafficking and human smuggling. International
organizations such as the United Nations (UN), International Organization of
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
22
Migration (IOM) and other NGOs have been increasingly active in the
development and elaboration of definitions of trafficking and smuggling. As a
result, The UN's Convention on Transnational Organized Crime included a
Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, also called the
Palermo Convention, in 2000. It defines trafficking as the "recruitment,
transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons" by means of "threat or
other forms of coercion, deception, or the abuse of power" for purposes of
exploitation, such as "the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation, forced
labor, slavery or similar practices, and the removal of organs." At the U.S.
federal level, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, amended as the
Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA), similarly
defines “severe forms of trafficking” as the recruitment, harboring,
transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act,
labor or services through the use of force, fraud or coercion or, if the person
is under 18 years of age, any commercial sex act, regardless of whether
coercion is involved.
On the other hand, the UN Protocol defines human smuggling as "the
procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other
material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a State party of which the
person is not a national or a permanent resident." The U.S. defines human
smuggling as the facilitation, transportation, attempted transportation or illegal
entry of a person or persons across an international border in violation of
American immigration laws. Typically, a contractual relationship for smuggling
services exists between smugglers and smuggled persons, and this relationship
normally ends once the smuggled person has entered the U.S. and the debt is
paid (Department of Justice 2006). Therefore, the key elements in the definition
of smuggling are illegal border crossing by the smuggled person and receipt of
a material benefit by the smuggler (Bhabha 2005).
Introduction
23
Regardless of these efforts to develop legal definitions and distinctions,
researchers still disagree on how trafficking and smuggling should be defined
and studied (Bruckert and Parent 2002, Chew 1999, Chiang 1999, Gozdziak
and Collett 2005, Laczko 2005, Lee 2007, Raymond and Hughes 2001, Salt
and Hogarth 2000). For example, Salt and Hogarth (2000) identified 22
definitions of trafficking and smuggling, and used various terms including alien
smuggling, trafficking of aliens, illegal immigrant smuggling, human trafficking
and trade of human beings.
In practice, the conceptual and legal distinctions between smuggling and
trafficking often become intertwined. As the U.S. Department of Justice's report
(2006:10) indicates, "Smuggling may turn into trafficking when smugglers
extort their victims to force them to work until the smuggling debt is repaid."
Moreover, ambiguities and tensions intensify when discussions turn to the
smuggling of sex workers and trafficked women. Clearly, those who were
previously engaged in prostitution, or who were smuggled as sex workers, are
unlikely to be considered victims because of their consent to illegal border
crossing and working in the sex trade (Lee 2007). However, it is worth noting
that neither the 2000 UN Protocol's international definition of trafficking in
persons, nor the U.S. federal law's definition of severe forms of trafficking,
requires the victim's movement. Therefore, the critical ingredients needed to
meet the definition of trafficking in persons are the presence of exploitation
and coercion (Bhabha 2005).
In fact, many smuggled individuals, after arriving at their destination, find
themselves locked into cycles of violence, exploitation and abuse (Bhabha
2005). Although almost all relevant criminal cases of Korean women known to
us involved prostitution, it is often unclear to these women during the
beginning stages (recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring and receipt) that
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
24
they are being trafficked or smuggled for sex work, because deception prevents
the sexual exploitation from becoming apparent until later stages. What is
missing thus far are empirical examination of overlaps and transitions from
smuggling to trafficking, and what Kelly (2007) calls a "continuum" of
trafficking, which involves various degrees of force, exploitation and positions
of vulnerability.
As Zhang (2007) points out, little research has examined how victims become,
at some point, available as commodities and are sold to either traffickers or
recruiters for trafficking purposes. Lim’s preliminary research (2008) indicates
that most Korean victims are not kidnapped or forcefully removed from their
villages and sold to human traffickers. Although most individuals who are
smuggled into the U.S. are done so voluntarily, this leaves them vulnerable to
trafficking. This is partly because the smuggling process leads directly to the
accumulation of a large debt; so, to pay off this debt, smuggled individuals are
forced to work as prostitutes, which occupation they cannot leave until they
have paid their debt in full. This is an example of the process of transition
from smuggling to trafficking.
The following is an overview of the trafficking of Korean women for sexual
exploitation, which appeared in a federal indictment in 2006.
1. First, recruiters in Korea and the United States identify Korean women
who want to come to the United States. The recruiters then arrange for
these women's transportation from Korea to North America. By the
time the women are taken into the U.S., they owe the recruiters and
other members of the criminal organization a large debt, usually in the
tens of thousands of dollars.
2. Once the women are delivered to a prostitution house, they are placed
Introduction
25
under the supervision and custody of its owner or manager, typically
an older Korean woman. She often takes from these women all
identification and travel documents, including passports, to restrict their
ability to leave.
3. The women then begin working as prostitutes in these prostitution
houses, typically with their earnings credited against the debts they
owe to the members of the criminal organization. The women are, in
some instances, told or led to believe that if they leave the prostitution
business before paying off their debts, they will suffer a range of
harms, including, but not limited to, being turned in to U.S. law
enforcement or immigration authorities. The women also are sometimes
threatened by those members who would inform victims' families in
Korea what victims have done in the U.S. if they leave the
prostitution business before paying off their debt.
4. Once the women enter this network of prostitution businesses, they are
traded and exchanged between and among the various prostitution
house owners and managers.
Crime Displacement in Trafficking and Smuggling for Sexual
Exploitation
Nevertheless, these national and international definitions and distinctions of
trafficking and smuggling provide a basis for both a standard approach, and
consistency from country to country for legislative, enforcement and
administrative measures (UN 2006). With an international awareness of these
offenses' nature and seriousness, many nations have adopted new legislation and
policies to prevent, suppress and control smuggling and trafficking. Critics of
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
26
state‐directed anti‐trafficking efforts, however, argue that most current anti‐
trafficking policies are ineffective, and even counterproductive, because they fail
to address the “root causes” of human trafficking (Kempadoo 2005). They
argue that top‐down, state‐directed interventions, at best, do little more than
suppress trafficking in one place, while causing it to resurface somewhere else:
the so‐called “Push down, Pop up,” or PDPU, effect (Marshall and Thatun
2005). Another term for this is displacement.
Although many ways of explaining displacement of crime have been addressed
in much of the literature, six types of displacement are most commonly
discussed. They are temporal, spatial, target, method, crime type and
perpetrator displacement (Reppetto 1976; Bar and Pease 1990; Hakim and
Rengert 1981; see also summaries and examples of these displacement in
Barnes 1995; Eck 1993).
Most research on displacement focus on domestic crime prevention efforts in
the areas of local prostitution and street drug problems. However, transnational
displacement is not a new phenomenon. Mahncke, Rees and Thompson (2004)
indicate that the risk of the transnational displacement exists when a crime
problem is energetically countered by law enforcement agencies in one nation.
Studies of international drug trafficking, for example, have found clear evidence
of displacement in the opium trade between Southeast and Southwest Asia. As
opium production declined in Myanmar, it increased markedly in Afghanistan,
although forces other than law enforcement were at play – namely, the role of
insurgents and terrorists in promoting opium cultivation, heroin/morphine
processing and their trafficking. Cocaine production trends in the Andean
countries show a similar dynamic. As supply was reduced in Peru and Bolivia
during the second half of the 1990s, it was displaced to Colombia (Carpenter
2003, Chepesiuk 1999, UN 2008).
Introduction
27
Although no comparable studies of displacement in the sex trade exist, a study
on the impact of a Swedish law that Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services
shows possible transnational geographic displacement. As part of a national
focus on promoting women's dignity and gender equality, Sweden enacted
legislation in January, 1999 that prohibits gross violations of a woman’s
integrity. This law defines prostitution as a form of male violence toward
women and children, and a significant social problem. Purchasing, or attempting
to purchase, sexual services in Sweden now constitutes a criminal offense
punishable by fines and/or up to six months’ imprisonment (Government
Offices of Sweden 2006). According to Ekberg (2004), the estimated number of
prostitutes in Sweden fell from 2,500 in 1999 to 1,500 in 2002 after the law
came into force. Interestingly, the study compared the numbers of women who
are victims of trafficking for sexual purposes in neighboring Scandinavian
countries, such as Finland, Denmark and Norway. By Comparing 2003 reports
from the Swedish National Criminal Investigation Department, Finnish Criminal
Intelligence Division of the National Bureau of Investigation, and a Denmark
organization that assists women in prostitution and victims of trafficking in
human beings, the study clearly indicates that trafficking in Sweden’s
neighboring countries has increased, but no equivalent increase in the number
of women who are victims of trafficking in Sweden has been found. The study
also implies that traffickers are choosing other destination countries where their
businesses are more profitable than they are in Sweden, and where they are not
hampered by similar laws.
An examination of sex trafficking/smuggling from South Korea, therefore, has
tremendous potential for developing a theoretically comprehensive understanding
of human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation. This understanding,
in turn, has important policy implications. As discussed in the Swedish Law
that Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services, transnational displacement can
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
28
be a real challenge to researchers, policymakers and others concerned with
trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation. Whatever the specific type,
displacement is an adaptive response. Some have argued that this is exactly
what happened in South Korea with the enactment of the “Act on the
Punishment of Intermediating in the Sex Trade” in September 2004 (Katayama
2005). This new law includes strict penalties, including large fines and long
prison sentences, for brothels' owners and patrons. Despite this law, however,
many observers in Korea have suggested that sex trafficking within Korea has
been displaced from red light districts to more clandestine forms, including
barbershops, karaoke parlors, massage parlors and even cyberspace (a form of
spatial and method displacement). Indications also suggest that the new anti‐
prostitution act is linked to transnational spatial displacement, as Korean
traffickers and “sex workers” have looked beyond Korea’s borders―including to
the U.S.A.―as a way to circumvent a strict domestic environment.
Our news content analysis of 408 out of 3822 Korean news articles from 2004
to 2009 regarding the Act indicates geographical and/or methodological
displacements. Neither comparable studies of displacement in the sex trade,
nor systematic studies focusing on South Korea, has been conducted. The study
of sex trafficking and smuggling from South Korea, therefore, fill a critical
gap.
29
Research Design
and Method
As in most studies of human trafficking and smuggling, our investigation was
confronted with a range of serious methodological challenges: sampling and
sample bias, data reliability, access to sources of information, and ethical
considerations (revolving around the clandestine and criminal aspects of
trafficking, smuggling and prostitution). In trafficking‐related research, as
Andrees and Van der Linden (2005) note, “random sampling is nearly
impossible” and sampling bias is difficult to avoid. (p. 60). Practically speaking,
this means that studies of trafficked persons usually cannot be representative of
entire populations. One way to mitigate this problem, however, is through a
focus on specific subpopulations “such as foreign sex workers in a given
country or a specific migrant community” (ibid.). This is precisely the approach
used in our study. More specifically, our study based a number of inter‐related
research strategies:
1. Direct interviews with trafficked and smuggled women from Korea
(the interviews were based on a common survey instrument).
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
30
2. Interviews of Korean associates (middlemen and transporters) of
trafficking/smuggling networks and operators (owners and
managers) of Korean‐based commercial sex establishments in the
United States.
3. A comprehensive review and content analysis of news and media
reports (our preliminary research has already identified more than
1,500 news articles in American, Korean‐American, and Korean
media sources).
4. An examination of federal court and related cases involving
Korean defendants and victims of human trafficking (in 2006, there
were at least seven major cases involving Korean nationals).
In addition to these specific research strategies (which we discuss in more
detail in the following sections), we have identified our primary research sites
and the key partnership and cooperative relationships required for our project.
These are also discussed below.
Research Site
This study explores the dynamics of a specific smuggling and trafficking
movement in the transnational sex trade: the movement of Korean women to
the U.S. who share a life experience, resulting from a sense of common
interest and identity. They are seen as experiencing change as a consequence
of reactions to or adventures in a particular setting or condition of life.
Victims and offenders (traffickers and associates) of human trafficking are often
described in relation to a particular place or context. Therefore, the
determination of research sites forms a crucial component of our study.
Research Design and Method
31
Our research was carried mainly in metropolitan New York although we visited
other cities such as Atlantic City in New Jersey. All researchers used the
same survey instrument and similar field protocols to conduct interviews with
individuals who have participated in human smuggling and trafficking, either as
victims or perpetrators.
The following criteria of site selection was used. Research sites must be a major
center (or hub) of trafficking activity involving Korean nationals to maximize our
ability to contact trafficked or smuggled persons and others involved in the trafficking
process. In addition, the research sites must have a relatively high concentration
of service‐providers/NGOs and law enforcement personnel familiar with human
trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation. Based on these general criteria,
we have identified three primary research sites for data collection.
In the New York metropolitan area, we have selected two target areas, each of
which includes large Korean-American communities: Flushing, New York and
Manhattan, New York. A number federal and state sex trafficking cases
involving Korean women have been investigated in these areas. The Korean
community in Flushing (Queens) is the largest Korean community in the
northeastern United States, while Korea town is located in Manhattan, New
York.
If one visits downtown Flushing, NY, it may seem like strolling through
another country, where residents and merchants banter in foreign tongues and
characters of Asian alphabets dominate the storefront signs. Even inside the
Starbucks on Main Street, menu offerings like Caramel Macchiato, caffe latte
and crumb cake are listed not only in English, but also in Korean and Chinese.
The coffee shop, increasingly a staple on street corners across the country, is
next to Ameriasia Bank, Shul’s beauty salon (Korean) and Luck Joy Restaurant
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
32
No.1 (Chinese), and RE/MAX Millennium Realty, all with signs in English,
Korean, and Chinese.
The other research site, 42nd Street of Manhattan, New York City, New York,
was selected because it is the best known Korea town in the northeastern
region of United States. Along the 42nd Street are businesses with signs
written in both English and Korean. Today, if one visits the town, we can see
numerous retail store signs advertising restaurants, beauty salons, spas, and so
forth, owned by and primarily serving Koreans. It is not difficult to see that
the language of this community is mainly Korean; one is less likely to see
English or any other language such as Chinese.
Primary Research Strategies: Recruitment and Interviews
Trafficked and Smuggled Women. To learn about the operation, dynamics
and conditions of the trafficking and smuggling process and about the Korean‐
based prostitution industry, direct interviews with participants are necessary.
Unfortunately, due to the criminal and hidden nature of these activities, gaining
access to interview subjects is extremely difficult. In other words, recruitment
is always a serious obstacle when dealing with hidden populations. This is
particularly the case of trafficked or smuggled persons in the sex trade: as
“illegal” aliens engaging in criminal activity, potential subjects usually do not
want to be found. This makes a creative and multi‐prong strategy necessary.
Our strategy for interviewing trafficked or smuggled women was based on
three related methods: (1) self‐identification through newspaper advertisements;
(2) a telephone survey of individuals in the commercial sex industry who
operate through print or Internet advertising (we call numbers directly); and (3)
the “snowballing” sampling technique. We conducted 22 interviews with
Research Design and Method
33
trafficked or smuggled individuals in the U.S.
The use of newspaper advertisements is an unconventional recruitment
technique, on the other hand, it is also an effective corrective to the selection
bias that results from heavy reliance on informants. Newspaper recruitment,
of course, is not a methodological panacea, but it does allow us to gain wider
access to trafficked or smuggled individuals than would otherwise be possible.
The same can be said of telephone recruitment. Tyldum and Brunovskis (2005:
19) discuss their success in systematically collecting telephone numbers from
different advertisements (print and electronic) for escort and massage services,
and then calling these numbers directly to conduct short interviews (they report
a success rate of 50 percent). The snowballing method is also very useful and
has been routinely used by other researchers. In our case, after each
successful interview, we asked the interview subject to contact other potential
subjects on our behalf. The advantage of this approach is the ability of
previous interview subjects to vouch for our credibility and neutrality as
academic researchers. These three techniques yielded the bulk of our direct
interviews, but referrals through law enforcement and service‐providers were not
successful due to the issue of confidentiality
Traffickers and Associates. Interviews of traffickers and their associates
provide a useful and essential complement to interviews with trafficked and
exploited Korean women. In particular, it is the traffickers and their associates
who know best how the trafficking and prostitution networks operate, what type
of power structure exists within their organizations, how they are organized,
and so on. Given the nature of their activities, of course, identifying and
obtaining interviews with these individuals was extraordinarily difficult, but not
impossible. We were able to interview four owners/managers for sex
establishments and three transporters.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
34
Supplementary Research Strategies
In addition to the primary research strategies discussed above, our study used a
number of complementary research strategies: (1) content analysis of Korean‐
American and Korean news and media reports; (2) Analysis of federal court
cases involving Korean defendants and victims of human trafficking; and (3)
content analysis of Internet‐based sources (e.g., sites established by “customers”
and others detailing and discussing prostitution‐based enterprises in the United
States, and Internet portals that solicit Korean women for prostitution work in
the United States).
Content analysis from Korean-American and Korean news and media
reports. A total of 3,734 news articles were identified regarding the 2004 Act
and released between September 2004 and September 2009. The search result
for overseas sex trade produced 1,927 articles. This is a potentially valuable
source of data, but one that requires systematic analysis and evaluation. Dr.
Choo coded and analyzed this data using qualitative research software. This
data can be used to assess the scope of trafficking and smuggling for sexual
exploitation, and also for complementing interview and survey data. 408
articles containing crime displacement are used for the analysis of tactical or
transnational spatial displacement.
Analysis of federal court cases involving Korean defendants and
victims of human trafficking. Although relatively limited, there are a
number of federal and other court cases involving Korean defendants and
Korean victims of human trafficking. Our research examined all of the
available cases. Dr. Choo searched the Lexis‐Nexis Legal Research database,
which contains decisions for all federal court levels, and the Westlaw database
for relevant cases. We focused on one major U.S. Federal investigation case,
Research Design and Method
35
named “Operation Cold Comfort” in Northeast region of the U.S. for an in
depth analysis.
Content analysis of Internet-based sources. The Internet has spawned a
huge diversity of web sites, some of which are devoted to sharing information
about escort services, massage parlors, and other prostitution‐based enterprises.
Many of these are specifically focused on Korean women in the United States.
See, for example, sora.net and nodakclub.com. Other sites cater to soliciting
Korean women (and, recently, men) for prostitution‐based work in the United
States and elsewhere. An analysis of these websites yields important
information about the “demand‐side” of human trafficking and smuggling for
sexual exploitation.
Sampling Design
The target population for this research study are individuals who have resided
for more than 3 months in the United States. Because this research involves
attempting to locate the active Korean population who are victims of human
trafficking or associates of human trafficking rings, the “snowball” or “chain
referral” sampling method is used. Maxfield and Babbie (2001) explain this
approach plainly for readers unfamiliar with this method:
…
snowball sampling means that initial research subjects (or informants) identify
other persons who might also become subjects, who in turn suggest more potential
subjects, and so on. In such a way, a group of subjects is accumulated through a
series of referrals. (p. 288)
Various strategies were used to recruit the target population in the study as
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
36
described below. The newspaper advertisement originally seemed to offer a
stronger initial contact than through the agency. However, the newspaper
advertisement method turned out to be unsuccessful, although a couple of calls
were received from potential sex workers and owners of brothels.
Contacting Subjects and Field Relationship
During the months of May and June, the Principal Investigators, Dr.
Kyungseok Choo and Dr. Joon Ah Jang contacted Korean ethnic newspaper
reporters in New York who wrote articles on Korean sex trafficking to seek
advice and reference of the source of the articles. We had two meetings with
staff including the editor‐in‐chief, senior manager of the metro section division,
and two news reporters in their headquarters (Joong‐Ang Newspaper) located
in New York City (NYC). Upon the agreement of using our final technical
report for their special edition of the news section, the newspaper reporters
arranged meetings with their informants who had provided sources for their
news articles. The Prinicipal Investigator, Dr. Joon Oh Jang also had a
relative, a well known community leader in the Korean community in New
York that helped us get in contact with an informant whose connection to the
community was crucial to the study. We visited NYC four times to build a
rapport with these informants, one of whom was an owner of a sex trade
estabishment. The Principal investigators provided a full background of the
research and explained the processes of confidentiality and anonymity of
subjects. Two of the informants have agreed to arrange interviews with
women working in sex trade establishments. These site visits and activities
were necessary to pre‐arrange any formal interviews in order to build a
rapport with, and have access to, the human trafficking network.
Research Design and Method
37
Based on the information obtained from interviews with owners of the
massage parlor establishments, we were able to interview sex workers who
were working at the owners’ massage parlor locations. Initially, many of them
showed anxiety and suspicion. After a couple of encounters with these
subjects, we were usually able to get them talking. Normally, we offered
what Spradley (1979) described as “friendly conversation” before any interview.
Once they accepted the interview, a notification letter in Korean was read to
these subjects.
Building up a rapport by maintaining regular contact with active members
(owners, managers, and associates) of sex trafficking or smuggling or victims,
is another important factor for the researcher to convince potential subjects to
participate in the study. Through the rapport process, the informants also
learn who the researchers really are. Most often, a good rapport encourages
them to talk about their world. Initially, we had had difficulty finding a New
York research site simply because of the distance and travel time from
Lowell, Massachusetts where the researchers’ academic institution is located.
Another problem was the fact that most of the participants are 'night owls'
who are active throughout the night until morning due to their sex business
operational hours. To overcome these problems and maximize the sample size,
we set up a time frame and traveled to the research site almost every other
weekend until we managed to contact a number of informants successfully.
Later, we spent weekdays there as well during the summer for physical and
social observation.
The give and take method also plays a critical role in the field relationship
between the researcher and participants of the study. Every interviewee that
we have contacted was informed of our willingness to help them as needed.
They were also informed of the confidentiality of the research. This is an
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
38
important factor in this research because the interviewees were active in sex
trade at the time of interview. In addition, interviewees (victims of traffickers,
traffickers, owners, and transporters) were paid $300 when they completed the
interview. The idea of a $300 incentive was set after advice from Dr.
Timothy Lim who conducted research on sex trafficking among Korean women
in California. His subjects, who were working in the sex industry, typically
made $200 to 300 an hour. These earnings were then split with the owners
or managers of the sex establishment where the victims of sex
trafficking/smuggling had been working. Since interviewees for this research
spent more than an hour, they should be given a minimum of $300 that they
can share with the owners if they are asked to pay their hourly earnings.
Other participants such as owners, managers, and transporters were paid $300
as well when they completed their interviews. They typically earn more than
$300 an hour from sex workers during their business hours. In addition, it
was more likely that they would find out the incentive discrepancy among
interviewees if we paid them less. Paying all participants an equal amount
made it possible to avoid any challenges or conflicts during the project. Our
budget from the Korean Institute of Criminolgy grant allocated accordingly for
monetary incentive of participants. There was no incentive to any participants
who withdrew before the end of the interview. We informed and clarified the
incentive payment to all interviewees as well as informants before the start of
the interview during the notification process of the consent.
Methods of Data Collection
Participant Observation
Research Design and Method
39
As discussed earlier, this research study was designed to explore not only the
causation of Korean women sex trafficking to the United States but also their
dynamics. Participant observation was used as a data collection method to
measure the social activities and physical characteristics of the chosen research
sites.
Field notes were used to record observational data. In them we recorded the
individuals observed, the particular relationships between individuals, the
personalities of the people involved, the sequence of actions, and characteristics
of actions. These elements were included to supply information or other
specific details where necessary and to omit trivial or irrelevant material.
After building up a good rapport with the owner of a massage parlor business,
we were allowed to visit inside the business location and observe the operation
of the business while conducting interviews. During these observations, we
watched TV, had lunch together with sex workers, and chatted with the
manager. Sometimes, they proudly revealed what they knew about sex
business in the United States and whom they knew in particular cities.
Interviewing
The most enjoyable aspect of the research project was that we made our
discoveries by observing the daily activities of Korean sex workers, by listening
to what they said to us, and by respecting and trying to understand their lives.
The other data collection method, interviewing, was used to hear about their
world in their own voices. The interview involves two distinct but
complementary modes: the informal conversational interview (see Appendix A)
and the formal questionnaire interview (see Appendix B). Both were used
interchangeably depending on interview circumstances and the interviewee’s
preference. Interviewees also chose either the English or the Korean version of
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
40
the questionnaire depending on their language preference.
When the interviewee showed discomfort or said “no” to the formal
questionnaire interview, the informal conversation interview was used. During
the formal questionnaire interview process, we sometimes switched to the
informal conversation interview mode when an unforeseeable interruption of the
interview process occurred. For example, an interviewee showed cooperation
initially but became anxious and uncomfortable during the interview. Questions
in the informal conversation interview address the same domains used in the
formal questionnaire interview: self description such as age, education, level of
English, family, recruitment process, transportation, routine activities, drugs,
violence, and other personal matters as well as work conditions. Each question
begins with what Spradley (1979) terms as “descriptive questions”. For
example, “I would like to hear about your daily life, from the time when you
get up to when you go to bed, in your own words”. Based on the
interviewee’s description, we ask for more details or move on to the next
descriptive question.
Friendly conversation was used until the subject no longer felt uncertainty or
discomfort about the study. In addition, various places were utilized for
interviewing to enhance the free flow of the conversation and comfort. Most
of these places that were selected provided an environment of ethnic
homogeneity and a more relaxed atmosphere for the interview. For example,
they included Korean restaurants, coffee shops, street cafés, taxis, as well as
business settings of the subjects. If a subject agreed to participate in the study,
we always asked whether they had a preferred place for the interview.
In an attempt to let interviewees “speak freely using their own terminology”
(Wright & Bennett, 1990), we tried to avoid any interruption until the
Research Design and Method
41
interviewee had finished their turn to speak. Immediately after their turn, we
expressed our interest in and ignorance about what they had said, for the sake
of obtaining a more in
‐
depth response. At the end of the interview process,
we asked them to summarize or organize what they had told us in their own
words. Many of them who met our participant criteria were also asked about
the possibility of a second interview. Both formal and informal interviews
took about 2 hours each.
Method of Analysis
Analysis involves dividing something into its components and explaining what
they are, under the assumption that it is easier to consider and to understand
the subject in smaller segments than as a large, complicated whole. Yet
analyzing qualitative data is often a cumbersome and lengthy process, because
qualitatively oriented participant observation and related case study strategies
rely predominantly on the inductive approach of identifying emerging themes
and hypotheses. The analysis of this study focuses on how rather than what.
In order to provide, a good description of how the process of sex trafficking
and smuggling operated, we utilized the strategies for qualitative data analysis
suggested by Maxwell (1996). They are (1) reading the interview transcripts,
observational notes, or documents, (2) writing notes and memos on what you
see and developing tentative ideas about categories and relationships during
reading, (3) using these memos to categorize and contextualize strategies.
As described in an earlier section, data was collected through participant
observation and intensive interviews. After data were gathered, they were
analyzed before further data collection began. The data was sorted and coded
by similar events, activities, patterns and themes that occurred frequently.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
42
Through open coding, various forms and patterns of the findings were
constantly compared with one another.
The research process was logically connected by way of research questions,
data collection, and data analysis. Based on existing theories, the interview
data, observation data and memos were created and used to identify patterns,
comparisons, trends, and paradoxes. While re-reading interviews, we wrote
short interview summaries. Further questions and inquires derived from
matrices, analytic memos, and a periodic review of all the collected data were
studied every three weeks.
Validity Issues
Reactivity: The presence of the researchers on the sites possibly provokes
changes in behavior or attitude of the subjects. In other words, it is possible
that interviewees may be affected by our values, theories, and preconceptions
while interviewing. In order to overcome this, we practiced being a good
listener and let the subjects speak freely on their own terms.
Sel ection bias: Selecting a non‐representative study group obviously
invalidates any attempt to generalize about larger populations. Participants in
this study may be considered representative of the target population, especially
currently actively working individuals in the sex industry of the United States.
Since respondents were selected using several different sampling procedures
(informant referral, newspaper advertisement, and participant observation), we
believe that they represent the maximum variation among Korean sex workers
that are either victims or offenders of sex trafficking and smuggling.
Research Design and Method
43
Truthfulne ss: The subjects of this research project are assumed to be active
working individuals in the sex industry. This raises the simple question of
how we know the subjects are telling the truth about their illegal activities.
All of the subjects interviewed thus far were properly informed and indicated
their voluntary involvement, and understood that the study was confidential.
Therefore, they do not have any reason to lie. Moreover, we assessed the
veracity of an interviewee’s accounts by checking and questioning, inconsistent
responses (Wright & Bennett, 1990).
Ethical Issues
Does the research harm any of the participants? Do we endanger ourselves or
study subjects in any way? What if we have to face situations such as
degradation, brutality, despair, injustice, and exploitation and can do nothing to
change the course of on
‐
going events (Inciardi, 1993)? Does the study protect
human rights? Questions like these should be examined at the beginning and
during the process. In order to address ethical issues, we first proposed the
research project and its protection of human rights to the Institutional Review
Board of University of Massachusetts Lowell before the study began. This
approval is required for every researcher at UMass Lowell who conducts his or
her study using human subjects.
The confidentiality of the interviewees in this study was secured by using
identification numbers, and there was no identifying information linked to any
individual participant. Pseudonyms are used in the text when personal accounts
were cited. All files containing personal information were stored in a secure
place.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
44
Additionally, we obtained a notification form (see Appendix A) from every
individual who met the selection criteria and agreed to participate in the study.
The notification form includes information about the purpose and general
procedure of the study. It states clearly that participants are always free to
make a decision to participate in or withdraw from the study. It also indicates
that participants who initially agree to participate can withdraw from the study
anytime during the research process without having to justify their choice and
without penalty.
To assure safety of both the interviewers and interviewees, the following safety
protocols were initially used although we realized relationship with informants
ensured our safety as well as participants. First, both Dr. Kyungseok Choo
and Dr. Joon Ah Jang had charged cell phones with the emergency phone
number for the field office of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in
New York at all times during the field research. Second, either Dr. Joon Ah
Jang or Dr. Kyungseok Choo assisted the other with conducting interviews as
an emergency contact person. For example, Dr. Joon Ah Jang would wait in a
designated place such as a nearby restaurant or coffee shop during Dr.
Kyungseok Choo’s interviews with research subjects. If Dr. Kyungseok Choo
did not return back to the designated place within 90 minutes, Dr. Joon Ah
Jang would make a phone call to Dr. Kyungseok Choo to verify that he is still
conducting the interview. If there was no response from Dr. Kyungseok Choo
after three attemped phone calls, Dr. Joon Oh Jang would contact the field
office of ICE to seek help.
45
General Characteristics
of Participants
A total of 22 participants had been interviewed as of the end of August 2009.
Initially, 27 met the sample criteria, by which women working at a room salon
were included in the sample. Five potential participants who contacted us were
excluded to focus on the sex trafficking. Although we aimed to recruit more
participants, most of the potential participants refused to engage in this study.
According to our informants, the majority of potential participants suspected us
of being law enforcement officers who were investigating illegal prostitution
activities.
In order to gain a greater understanding of the demographic characteristics of
individuals who participated in the study, data collected on the participant
included age, religion, level of education, and number of dependants.
Information was also gathered concerning immigration status, length of U.S.
residency, work experience, income, source of income, and level of English.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
46
As shown in Table 1, participants are categorized into three groups:
owners/managers (N=4), non‐trafficked women (N=12), and trafficked women
(N=6). We differentiate the non‐trafficked women from the trafficked women
based on the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific’s
definition and distinction of trafficking and smuggling, which provides a basis
for a standard approach. The 2004 Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants
by Land, Sea and Air (Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific,
2005) states that trafficking consists of three key elements: a) an action,
consisting of: recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of
persons; b) by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion,
abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or position of vulnerability, giving
or receiving payments or benefits to achieve consent of a person having control
over another; and c) for the purpose of exploitation such as forced labor or
services, the exploitation of prostitution, or certain forms of sexual exploitation.
Using these criteria, each participant was classified after the interview was
completed.
We categorized those women as victims of human trafficking if one of these
conditions applied: they were forced to transfer to a different location, their
passports were confiscated or their freedom of movement was controlled by the
owner of the establishments, and they had excessive work hours in the
commercial sex trading places. Although the victims stressed that they were
not subjected to physical violence at the workplace and the owners of the
establishments emphasized constantly that they were trying to produce good
working conditions for their employees, the sex workers had worked 13.5 hours
everyday on average. Most of the victims are regularly rotated to other
locations within the same state or relocated to a different state. In some cases,
the owner confiscated a woman’s passport to restrict her ability to leave.
Moreover, some victims pay off the debt to their broker, owner and/or
General Characteristics of Participants
47
Demographic characteristic Owner/Manager
(N=4)
Non-trafficked Women
(N=12)
Trafficked Women
(N=6)
Age
Mean age 49.75 39.4 37.83
English
Speaking 4.67 2.33 2.4
Listening 4.67 2.67 2.8
Visa
Tourist Visa 66.7% (n=8) 50% (n=3)
Student Visa
Green Card 75% (n=3)
U.S. Citizen 25% (n=1)
Illegal Status 33.3% (n=4) 50% (n=3)
Religion
Religious 25% (n=1) 18.2% (n=2) 33.3% (n=2)
Non-religious 75% (n=3) 81.8% (n=9) 66.7% (n=4)
Education
college/University 27.3% (n=3)
High School 45.5% (n=5) 16.7% (n=1)
2 Yrs College 75% (n=3) 18.1% (n=2) 33.3% (n=2)
4 Yrs College 25% (n=1) 9% (n=1) 50% (n=3)
Marital
Status
Single 33.3% (n=4) 83.3% (n=5)
Married in U.S. 8.3% (n=1)
Married in Other
country 16.6% (n=1)
Divorced 75% (n=3) 41.7% (n=5) 16.7% (n=1)
Passed Away 25% (n=1) 8.3% (n=1)
transporter who assisted with their arrival to the U.S. In addition, most victims
are subject to pay meal costs of $400 per week to the owner.
Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of Participants: Owners/Managers,
Non-trafficked women, and Trafficked women
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
48
Interestingly, none of the participants called themselves victims of human
trafficking. Moreover, in answer to the question, “Have you ever been
physically/sexually/psychologically abused or threatened?” respondents have
answered negatively. A number of other responses indicate a tendency of
downsizing the characteristics of the human trafficking, and a negative view toward
any questions related to human trafficking/smuggling. One participant who was an
owner of a massage parlor house revealed her hostility toward researchers when
we talked about incidents of taking away passports from massage parlors to restrict
their ability to leave. She mentioned, “Teacher (she addressed us as teachers), I
never took passports away. Teacher should know better that is illegal. This is a
Country run by a rule of law. Everybody goes and comes free. I tried to help
all my girls to make money. They are like my cousins and sisters. I never
forced any of my girls to do what they don’t want to do. If they don’t like here,
they can go anytime.” This denial indicates an attempt to emphasize the family
environment and kinship characteristics of how a massage parlor business operates
and to divert claims that might bring aggressive criticism from outsiders. Despite
some evidence of human trafficking and smuggling characteristics as we defined
above, participants tried to reason their actions as not being a crime or as a victim
human trafficking.
Demographic Characteristics
Age : The mean age of the twenty participants was 41 years old, ranging from 30
to 66 years old. Nine participants were in their 30s, eight were in their 40s, two
were 51 years old, and the oldest participant was 66 years old. However, there is
a great difference in the mean age between the owners/managers group (about 50
years old) and the sex workers group including both non‐trafficked and trafficked
women (about 38 years old). Within the sex worker group, age is an important
General Characteristics of Participants
49
criterion for selection preference from clients and owners. For example, our
informant indicated older women were easily turned down from brothel owners
unless the owners were desperate to run their businesses due to a great shortage of
women in their brothels and/or great client demands. Age also affects attitude and
behavioral patterns within the group. Older sex workers tend to show a more
hostile attitude toward younger sex workers.
Level of English Proficiency: To assess English proficiency, the participants
were asked to indicate the degree of their English speaking and listening
ability. The items were anchored by Not at all at the lower limit and Very
Well at the upper limit. The scale’s possible aggregate range is 1 to 5 with
higher scores reflecting a higher English proficiency. The results indicate that
the owner/manager of establishments speak and understand spoken English at a
much higher level of proficiency than the trafficked and non‐trafficked women.
The ANOVA analysis indicates that this difference is statistically significant at
the .05 significance level. Using Fisher’s LSD test, which is based on the
previous rejection of the null hypothesis with F test, suggests that the group of
owners/managers tends to have much higher English proficiency scores
compared to the trafficked and non‐trafficked groups. This, in some ways, may
be expected as the owner’s level of English proficiency (i.e., English
communication skills) may be essential to their operation. More importantly, the
language barriers the women face may make the more reliant on the owners,
and more vulnerable to their control.
Nationality and Residential Status: Three different nationalities were
identified although all participants are Korean ethnic origin and they are further
divided by U.S. visa status. Thirteen participants identified themselves as Korean
(59.1%), four identified themselves as Korean-Americans who have either
permanent residency or citizenship (18.1%), and five identified themselves as
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
50
Korean-Chinese (13.6%). Although Korean-Chinese people, known as Chosun-Jok,
have Chinese nationality, they are included in the study because their journey from
Northern China to Korea and to the U.S. is linked to Korean brokers in Korea
and overseas. One characteristic of residential status and its relations to the sex
trade business must be noted here. All four participants in the owner/manager
group who operated and controlled the business maintained a legitimate
immigration status (permanent residency or U.S. citizenship), while eleven had a
tourist visa and seven had undocumented status in both the non‐trafficked and
trafficked groups.
Religion and Education: Sixteen participants (76%) had no religion at the
time the interview was conducted. Only one participant was Buddhist while
the remaining four were Christians. Nonetheless, all participants were strong
believer in superstition who believe messaes from nightmares. Other
superstitious behavior we observed during the interviews were, for example, to
spit three times and knock three times at the same time when they brought up
a previous police arrest experience. Many showed their emotion that their bad
luck such as police arrests, illnesses, and lack of tips from clients are all
linked to what they thought as superstition. Unlike conventional wisdom, more
than half of the participants (57%) had two‐year or four‐year college degrees in
our study. Interestingly, five out of six trafficked women in our study were
under this category.
Marital Status : When they were asked about their marital status, twenty
participants (91%) reported their status as single or divorced while two
participants answered their marital status as being married. The married
participants were both Korean-Chinese and their husbands were unaware of
their sex work as a job. An interesting aspect of marital status we found
during our interview were sham marriages, about which five participants shared
General Characteristics of Participants
51
with us. Two Korean Chinese participants had sham marriages with Korean
husbands to enter South Korea from China. One participant entered Japan
from South Korea through, sham while two participants used a sham marriage
to get a U.S. green card. Many participants believed that marriage to someone
with U.S. citizenship was a relatively easy and fast way of obtaining permanent
residency or green card status and other immigration benefits. Despite this
persistent view, a green card through marriage often proves to be a difficult
path. Since immigration authorities expect marriage to be truly based on a real
and bona fide relationship, the married couple must provide extensive evidence
that they have a shared life that involves love and companionship and prove
that their relationship is not just a 'sham' to obtain permanent residency.
According to our informant, in addition to the cost of immigration marriage
fraud ranging from $30,000 to $40,000, their partners regularly request living
expenses or more money to maintain their sham marriage. Many of them also
face sexual abuse by their partners, although partners know that their marriage
is fake and a sexual relationship is not a part of the agreement.
Previous Experience and Motivation
Previous Experience in the Sex Industry (Korea or third country):
Eighteen participants responded they had a job in Korea before entering the United
States. Their job roles include house keeper, fish market helper, bus terminal
clerk, student, manufacturing, and service industry. Among them, seven (38.9%)
stated that they had also done sex‐related work before as prostitutes at a massage
parlor, and room salon. In examining further past experience in the sex industry,
we found a quite interesting fact, there was an unusually high proportion of
individuals with sex‐related work experience from Japan. Six participants had
worked in the Japanese sex industry before coming to the United States; four of
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
52
them had worked in the sex industry in Japan, although two simply mentioned
they just stayed in Japan; part of the self‐description of their previous experience
in the sex industry carries implications about their exposure to the Japanese sex
industry. This fact is important in understanding how transnational sex trafficking
and smuggling network operates targeting Korean women. We will return to this
issue when we discuss transnational trafficking and smuggling.
Decision to Migrate to America: Our data collection included a set of
questions consisting reasons to migrate to the United States. In most of the
participants’ response, there was more than one reason. The most prevalent
motive of the participants was financial gain. Eighteen out of twenty
participants (90%) indicated their primary reason to come to U.S. was to make
money. Recommendation from brokers and friends/relatives also affected their
decision to migrate; many of them were told that they could make much more
money in the United States. We also found a surprisingly large portion of
respondents that had a personal debt in Korea. Ten out of fifteen respondents
(66.7%) indicated that they had a personal debt in Korea and debt was either a
primary or contributing factor in their decision to migrate to the United States.
Among many other reasons, two participants told us they had legal problems
in Korea, and one participant implied her main reason was to escape from
domestic violence in Korea. It is clear that the primary goal is to make
money in our study. With the possible exceptions of domestic violence and
legal problems, all of these motives point to a need or desire for money.
What has been said so far carries with it the assumption that the analysis made
here the individual characteristics of the study participants are crucial to understand
the initial recruitment stage of the human trafficking/smuggling process, in which
victims meet recruiters through personal contacts, recruitment agencies, the Internet
or newspaper advertisements (a point we will discuss in the following section).
General Characteristics of Participants
53
The principal support for this assumption lies in the fact that parallel types of
characteristics of Korean trafficked/smuggled groups are found in analyzing the
responses of twelve subjects who experienced a similar process in metropolitan Los
Angeles in the United States. As Lim (2008) states in his final report:
While the information
…
fragmentary and hardly adequate to give a full picture of
the individual lives of the women we interviewed, some simple conclusions can be
drawn
…
. The generally high educational level of the women, their maturity (in terms
of age), and their purposeful decisions to come to the United States to find work
―
under risky conditions for those that were smuggled into the country
―
all underscore
the importance of understanding the myriad of individual
‐
level factors that go into
decisions to migrate, whether legally or illegally, whether into the sex industry or
another area. Certainly, one of these individual
‐
level factors was the “pull” of the
very high earnings that are possible in the U.S. sex industry, which itself is the
product of consistently high demand in the United States. All of this must also be
seen within the context of Korean society and the socio
‐
cultural, economic, political
and institutional structures that continue to “push” women into (sexual) exploitative,
generally demeaning, and sometimes dangerous situations (p. 25).
55
Trafficking Or
g
anization
and Characteristics
As discussed earlier, attempts to define human trafficking have met with only
limited success, and no generally accepted definition has emerged. The issue
of definition also affects how we define the term “trafficking organization”.
Whether we see trafficking organizations as organized crime groups or not, it
is obvious that transnational human trafficking itself requires organized group
activities to carry out the various stages of the trafficking process as defined
under “severe forms of trafficking” as the recruitment, harboring, transportation,
provision or obtaining of a person for a commercial sex act, labor or services
through the use of force, fraud or coercion” in the Trafficking Victims
Protection Reauthorization Act of 2003 (TVPRA). Based on U.S. federal
court cases, numerous newspaper articles, field observation and interviews, our
study shows that Korean trafficking/smuggling groups are different from other
types of criminal groups. The criminality of persons in Korean trafficking
organizations differs from that of conventional criminals because their criminal
network allows them to commit crimes of a different variety during the
trafficking process from other criminal groups such as street gangs. However,
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
56
it does not mean the human trafficking groups themselves are structurally well
organized groups. According to the United Nation training manual titled
“Assistance for the Implementation of the ECOWAS Plan of Action against
Trafficking in Persons (UNDOD, 2006)”,
Human trafficking is not exclusively under the control of major criminal networks.
The groups can be fairly small and operate in loose connection with each other
when it is mutually beneficial to do so. These groups may specialize in different
phases of the trafficking process: recruitment, transportation, exploitation and
laundering of proceeds of crime. In larger organized criminal groups, the different
phases of the trafficking process and different types of crimes may be diversified
among different subgroups
…
(who) know very little, if anything at all , about the
organization
…
Some of the subgroups do not seem to form a part of the structure
itself but knowingly or unknowingly participate in the organized crime activity
chain (p. 40).
In order to understand how the transnational trafficking tasks can be
accomplished, we need to examine the structures that Korean transnational
trafficking and smuggling groups can manifest. The organizational structure of
transnational trafficking groups plays an important role in understanding the
function of the groups themselves. Variables such as subgroups, size, and the
leadership role are all components of the group structure with varying levels of
complexity. Actual organizational structures are likely to differ in degree from
one group to another.
To illustrate the scale of the Korean trafficking/smuggling organization, we
carefully examined the recent and best known U.S. federal case on Korean
human sex trafficking in 2006, under the code name “Operation Cold
Comfort,” resulting in the arrest of a number of Korean human trafficking
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
57
rings operating throughout the northeastern U.S.A. The raids resulted in the
arrest of 41 Korean brothel owners and managers, middlemen (who worked as
transporters and otherwise assisted the organization) and illegal money
transmitters. The referred to case is United States of America v. Kim, Il,
LNU, Park, Bae, Polachek, Son, Lee, Choi‐Son, and LNU pursuant to T. 18
U.S.C. §§ 2, 371, 2421, 1960 (a), and 3148. We also compared the groups
from the case with our interview data to look for any differences and
similarities.
Structural Characteristics
Size and Network
The number of defendants in the case may deceive the laypersons’ perception
of human trafficking groups as representing a single large organized crime
group. The federal indictment case with forty one defendants showed five
middlemen/transporters connected with thirty independent owners and two
managers of brothels as well as four illegal money transmitters. Only one
defendant (middleman) knew all the other defendants. As shown in Figure
4.1, all the defendants were connected through a middleman. Nonetheless,
owners and illegal money transmitters ran their own respective businesses.
Thirty independent owners had operated various prostitution businesses
throughout the northeast region of United States such as New York,
Connecticut, Washington D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania. There were two
independent money transmitters who are not connected to each other while two
wives of defendants assisted with the money transactions.
Middleman/Transporters: The middlemen consisted of five transporters
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
58
including the middleman himself. Examination of the federal case indicated
two were of the same age and were friends, and they initially started the
business together while helping each other to arrange for women to work at
various brothels. One other transporter in the group was linked through
kinship; a brother in law of the middleman. The other two transporters were
partners and younger independent drivers. As the number of defendants
increased due to great demand from owners and managers, we found there was
a good chance that a specialization of services would exist within some of
these larger groups, as well as a diversification of responsibilities in others.
Obviously, the middleman acted as a director of activities within the group,
instructing others on their function within the group (e.g., delivering condoms,
picking up women at the airport, transporting women to the designated sex
business locations, and collecting money). We also believe one defendant, one
of the middlemen was the second director of activities. Based on statements
in the federal indictment, he was a friend and partner of the middleman and
they started the business together. The two always discussed decisions
regarding fee increases, businesses of their clients (e.g., owners of massage
parlor), and the commission of illegal money transactions. Therefore, we can
infer the Korean trafficking/smuggling organization rings might have more than
one director of activities and a couple of transporters.
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
59
Figure 4.1. Korean Sex Trafficking/Smuggling network ring
in the United States
The size of the middlemen can vary from one person to many. For example,
our informant was a single middleman who had maintained all the contacts of
owners, managers and sex workers by himself. He asked his fellow taxi
drivers when he was not available. Two of his fellow taxi drivers who we
met seemed to be ordinary taxi drivers. When they were asked, they tried to
impress us telling how much they knew about the operation. However, they
couldn’t specify the details of the operation. We consider that these taxi
drivers simply took clients (sex workers) to the designated place as asked by
the middleman.
Owners/Managers: The individuals in the owner group ran their business
independently. Almost all the prostitute businesses were run by a single
female owner. The size of the sex trade businesses in the federal case was
three to seven sex workers when they were raided. Participants in our study
indicated the size of their sex trade locations was larger compared to the
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
60
federal case. When participants in our study were asked the number of people
they deal with, their answers ranged from three to eleven workers including
owners and managers. We classified the size of the business based on 14
responses; the size of three to four co‐workers (n=7, 50%), five to six co‐
workers (n=2, 14%) and nine to eleven co‐workers (n=5, 35%).
It is hard to measure the actual size of the sex trade business because most
owners were also sex workers while they were operating their businesses.
Interestingly, many trafficked and non‐trafficked sex workers in the study also
indicated they wanted to set up a business in the future. Another reason is
that some owners have multiple operations in different locations. The federal
investigation case indicated that one owner operated four brothels. One owner
who we interviewed ran nine massage parlors at different establishments in a
particular city. In this case, owners hire managers to run their sex trade
businesses. Some also hire managers as decoys, who have a legitimate
massage license in case of a police raid, who clean and prepare meals for girls
and who also can speak English and/or Chinese to receive calls from English
and Chinese speaking clients.
According to a participant in the study, some sex establishment used to have
more than twenty workers before the major federal law enforcement raid. An
interesting comment from one respondent should be noted here. She mentioned
that they used to hire bouncers or street gang members to protect their sex
trade business and take care of unwanted clients. This information was also
found in the Korean gang study conducted in Dr. Choo’s book, Gangs and
Immigrant Youth. The following are extracts from his book:
Tae
‐
Ho mentioned the operation of massage parlors
……
“Ex-organized gang
members and female managers who had worked for massage parlor houses
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
61
sometimes have a partnership and operate massage parlors because they know how
to make easy and big money. But you have to understand that they are older
members who run a private business and have nothing to do with the KP
organization.” (p. 77)
A group of gang members with escort service (outcall service) teams up to run
the business. They advertise the escort service in local newspapers
……
.The role
of younger generation members is usually to drive the girls off to the sites where
the clients stay. The younger generation members are driving around the site until
the girl(s) are come out. Sometimes, they have to face a conflict situation
between clients and escort service girls. In such a situation, it is extremely rare
for them to use any violence toward the clients because they don’t want to attract
any attention from law enforcement. Instead, they are told to solve the problem
in favor of the clients such as changing girls, providing services as they requested,
or renegotiating the escort fees, which range from about $200 to $400 an hour.
Escort service girls used to work in massage parlors or as hostesses who were
employed to entertain guests in Korean bars
…
. the main service they provide is an
erotic massage with sex, which is illegal. For that reason, the “receptionist” who
receives an escort service call is cautious when asked anything regarding the
escort service, in case the caller is a law enforcement officer. Even escort service
girls are trained regarding this matter before they provide their services. For
example, they may ask the client to take off his pants, possibly even play with
himself before they will do anything. (p. 148)
Again, it is somewhat difficult to measure the size of the group because of the
change in sex trade operations due to major federal enforcement raids, which
forced owners to adopt a new way of operating their businesses in much
smaller sizes and with no association with other groups such as Korean or
Chinese gang members.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
62
Money Transmitters: There were four defendants in the illegal money
transmitter group in the federal case. One was an illegal money transmitter
who had just opened his business during the federal investigation. Another
individual was a Hawala dealer who was not related to the illegal money
transmitter in the group. They differed in the way they transferred money
from the U.S. to Korea. If clients (either owners or sex workers through
middlemen) wanted their money to be deposited into an account in a bank in
Korea, they utilized an illegal money transmitter. Clients can verify the money
being in the bank within 30 minutes through online banking systems. If clients
want their money to be delivered to a designated person, they used a Hawala
dealer. The verification process took longer at about 2 or 3 days compared to
illegal money transmitting. The other two were the wives of the middlemen
and the illegal money transmitter. Their participation in this group is not
surprising. Since each transaction required a large sum of cash (from $4,000
up to $100,000 per transaction) to be delivered, they needed someone who was
trustworthy.
Neighborhood, social and family networks played key roles in connecting
individuals from all four sets of groups; middlemen/transporters,
owners/managers, sex workers and money transmitters. The Korean sex
trafficking/smuggling network ring in the United States consisted of a collection
of connected points or junctures surrounding a middlemen group. The
transporters or middlemen did not control the whole network. Instead, they
were able to put their clients (owners, sex workers, or money transmitters) in
touch with the right person and/or right place. They could bridge the
communication gap between their clients. They could also perform important
favors and be rewarded in return with more commission. To do so, the
middleman or transporter needed a great deal of time to manage their network
adequately, develop and maintain contacts, provide services and income and be
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
63
kept well informed. Since they did not usually have to maintain conventional
schedules, they were free to go around picking up and disseminating important
information to his clients. As shown in Figure 4.1., we found a network
surrounding the transporter/middleman; a circle of central relationships in which
most clients have no relations with one another except through the
transporter/middleman.
Roles
Analysis of the roles that individuals played in the commission of their
criminal activities provides information on how the criminal actions differed
according to the group involved in the trafficking/smuggling case. It should be
noted that a defendant or defendants could take more than one role within a
group. It is interesting to note that the most significant role of performing the
trafficking/smuggling process for sexual exploitation, no matter how many
offenders were involved, was the middleman in the federal indictment case.
Middlemen/Transporters: We found that a middleman in the
trafficking/smuggling for sexual exploitation often played the role of a
transporter as well. They are typically Korean drivers who transport
Korean women working as prostitutes throughout the northeastern United
States. Owners or managers relied heavily on them. When owners or
managers requested a new woman or a particular kind of woman to work at
a specific prostitution business, such as a massage parlor, the middlemen
would find a woman to meet their demand and then would drive the woman
to the designated prostitution business location. Some middlemen might have
greater networks with other transporters, who would work for them when the
middlemen were not available or needed to meet multiple requests from
different owners to transport Korean women to various interstate brothel
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
64
locations on the same day.
They also acted as a conduit for communications between and among the
prostitution business owners and managers. For example, our informant
indicated that taxi drivers often had conversations with owners and managers
about the immigration status of various women, the needs and demands of
other prostitution businesses, and law enforcement actions taken at other
prostitution businesses.
Another important role they often played was to assist Korean women who
were looking for a place to work to identify and obtain more lucrative and
favorable work conditions among the various brothels. In this particular role,
they could negotiate, discuss and arrange for women to work at and be
transported to and between brothels. Interestingly, they also bailed out Korean
women who had been arrested. Examination of the federal case shows that
they possessed the sex workers’ passports for numerous reasons such as unpaid
transportation fees; therefore, they tried to bail out those who were arrested
before the investigation lead to them.
Another role they also played was to assist brothel owners and Korean women
working in brothels in transmitting proceeds from their brothel activities and
other funds to Korea through unlicensed money transmitters. A participant in
the study shared her story in which a taxi driver took cash from her and never
sent it to Korea. According to her, the taxi driver, who drove her to a brothel
in Georgia from New York, disappeared with $40,000 of her money, which
was supposed to be delivered to a Hawala dealer for wire transferring to
Korea. We will discuss in more detail the illegal money transfer system used
by many individuals involved in the sex trafficking organization. Some we
interviewed complained about a 10% money transferring fee, which was too
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
65
much. In the federal investigation case, the money transmitter charged only
$100 for every $10,000. Therefore, the other $900 must have been shared
among the middlemen and transporters who delivered the cash to the
transmitter.
It should be noticed that many transporters were ordinary taxi drivers, who
were simply acquaintances of a middleman and who provided their services to
general clients most of the time. These ordinary taxi drivers considered
themselves to be helping these women like other clients who need
transportation to get around.
Owners/Managers: We found more than half of the defendants in the
owner/manager category in the federal case had previous arrest records for
crimes such as prostitution and bribery of a public servant. Their major role
was obviously to run their sex trade business smoothly. To run their
businesses, the owners relied heavily on the services of a network of Korean
middlemen, as discussed above, to arrange for Korean women to work at and
be transported to and between the brothels. The owners requested the
middlemen or transporters to find women for their brothels based on certain
criteria such as immigration status, age, appearance and body type.
The federal investigation indicated the following roles owners have played:
•Requesting women with large breasts, or looking younger and legal
documents
•Complaining to the middlemen or transporters who were unable to
bring women or items such as condoms as they had promised, and
finding other drivers to make the delivery
•Changing women every few weeks to keep their customers happy
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
66
•Replacing women who were sick or having their menstrual period
•Opening new sex trade businesses
•Bribing local law enforcement
•Discussing recent law enforcement activity and getting information
from the middlemen
•Discussing with their lawyers when they were in trouble with law
enforcement
Interviews we conducted with our participants also confirmed these various
roles that owners have played. We had two participants who had breast
enlargement surgery to meet clients’ and owners’ demand. Almost all
participants mentioned that they moved around to different places typically
every three to four weeks. Some also mentioned that they would open their
own sex trade businesses. Owners and managers who participated in our study
similarly commented they paid special attention to law enforcement activities
and hired lawyers to bail out girls who were arrested. It should be noted that
the federal investigation “Operation Cold Comfort” in 2006 was originated
when it was revealed that two NYPD officers had been accepting bribes from
two Korean brothel owners in 2005. The investigation note indicated that two
independent owners had tried to negotiate a business agreement with a local
detective about voluntarily closing and then re‐opening her business. Some
participants also mentioned that they sometimes have to face clients who claim
to be police officers and receive free service.
Similar to the kinship network found in the money transmitter and transporter
groups, we found some owners also connected through siblings. This suggests
that relations share personal experiences and values, which results in an
influence on individual involvement in human trafficking/smuggling networking.
Trafficking Organization and Characteristics
67
Money Transmitters: Money transmitters, who had started their new illegal
money transmitting business, typically contact the middlemen first. They
explain how their system works to the middlemen so the middlemen, in turn,
explain how transactions work to women who need to wire their proceeds from
the sex trade business. Illegal money transmitters enable many sex workers or
owners to transfer money from the U.S. to Korea without going through formal
financial institutions including banks. The following is a description of the
process of the illegal money transmitting Korean Hawala dealers used based on
descriptions in the federal case.
Method 1: The sender contacts the middleman, requests a Hawala service, and
hands over the large sum of cash, for example, $10,000 to him on the same day.
The middleman contacts a Hawala dealer and gives him US$10,000 to send to
South Korea. In most cases the dealer gets the complete name and contact
information about the receiver and passes that onto his counterpart in Korea. The
dealer in Korea, then contacts the receiver and delivers the money/or schedules a
pick up time. The transaction can be completed immediately if the dealer in Korea
is able to deliver it to the designated person or the receiver is able to pick up the
money on the same day. Otherwise, it might take a day or two.
Method 2: The illegal money transaction process is the same as method 1 in the
U.S. The sender contacts, requests, and hands over the money to the middleman.
However, the middleman asks for bank account information in South Korea
(typically family members or someone with a name other than the sender’s name)
for the money transaction. The middleman gives the information to the illegal
money transmitters with the cash. The sender can verify the deposit into the bank
account through online banking or by calling the account holder.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
68
A typical Hawala dealer in New York will make a list of names and contact
information of senders, recipients and the money involved in each transaction.
At the end of the day he will send a fax or email the list to his counterpart
in South Korea. The dealer in South Korea will then make payments in
Korean currency within 24 hours. The lack of paper trail, convenience and fast
nature of the transaction has made it a preferred means for individuals involved
in human trafficking and smuggling organizations.
69
Sex Trafficking and
Smuggling Process
This study explores the dynamics of a specific smuggling and trafficking
movement in the transnational sex trade among Korean women to the U.S.
Existing literature on human sex trafficking indicates that it should be
understood as a process, rather than a single offense. For this reason, we first
introduce the initial stage of the human trafficking process, recruitment, with a
suitable victim search. Then a discussion follows about the means of
transportation and illegal entry of the trafficked/smuggled person to the final
destination, the United States. Finally, the section addresses the final
exploitation stage of human trafficking/smuggling, during which the offender
(trafficker, smuggler, associate, and/or owner/manager) uses unlawful coercion,
threat, extortion, or any other such inhumane measures against victims.
To simplify the trafficking/smuggling process, we use the following diagram, as
shown in Figure 5.1.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
70
Fi gure 5.1. Korea n Human Traf f i ckin g Pro ces s in th e U. S . Fed eral Case
Recruitment
The recruitment of Korean women for prostitution in the United States now
appears to depend heavily on the Internet and print advertising, as well as word of
mouth. Participants in our study indicated they learned of work opportunities in the
United States through either brokers or friends/acquaintances/siblings. Twelve out of
eighteen participants (66.7%) stated they came to the United States through
brokers. The brokers use various ways to recruit women, such as posting job
advertisements in Internet cafés and print newspaper ads.
Sex Trafficking and Smuggling Process
71
Fi
g
ure 5.2. Exam
p
le of Internet Ad
Fi
g
ure 5.3. Exam
p
le of News
p
a
p
er Ad
Above are examples available through overseas job opportunity Internet cafés
(www.daum.net) and newspaper ads (Korean flea market newspaper in New York).
The example in the Figure 5.2 reads, “Hi! A tough day isn’t it? Here’s a great
job opportunity during the recession!!! We invite you who can work with us in LA
or NY…. Please never be afraid. We will escort you from departure in Korea to
entry in the U.S., and to the workplace….. Ages 21 to 33…Monthly income
$25,000 to $30,000 guaranteed!…. Interview here in Seoul…Please call us.”
Compared to our participants’ monthly income, which ranged from $3000 to
$35,000 with a mean monthly income of $17,305, the guaranteed minimum of
$25,000 in the advertisement in Figure 5.2 was exaggerated.
Although fourteen participants indicated that they first learned of work
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
72
opportunities in the United States through friends or acquaintances (i.e., word
of mouth), many of them still needed to contact brokers to arrange for
transportation from China or Korea to Canada, and then to the U.S. As found
in the federal investigation on Korean Human Trafficking in New York, the
brokers also provide the women with false immigration documents, including
passports and visas, or with false underlying documents enabling them to
obtain U.S. passports or visas.
It is unclear how a strong link between the Korean sex trafficking
organizations in the U.S. and the domestic organizations in Korea has been
established, or how they share the profits from trafficking. Whether these two
organizations consider themselves one group or not, their responsibilities involve
clearly divided: domestic trafficking organizations send women and overseas
organizations receive them. Domestic organizations’ responsibilities involve
recruiting women, counterfeiting passports or other fraudulent documents to
obtain visas, and sending them off or departing with the women from Korea
through harbors and airports. U.S.‐based Korean organizations’ responsibilities
involve receiving women, transporting them from arrival points to final
destinations, and running the sex trade business with them. According to Lim
(2008), these two separate but necessary coordinating organizations should be
distinguished as a smuggling network in Korea and a Korean‐based prostitution
network in the U.S. He argues that they are intimately related but distinct
entities operating in concerting with, but also independently of each other.
It should also be noted that some Internet ads announced, “No brokers please.”
We assume that most previous relationships between these two entities were on an
ad hoc basis and a tight relationship no longer existed. We see a new trend of
recruiters in the U.S. directly contacting women in Korea and arranging all
activities, which used to be done by domestic trafficking organizations, without
Sex Trafficking and Smuggling Process
73
sharing their profits with local Korean brokers. It might also be an indication that
most Korean women today no longer need to be smuggled into the U.S. due to a
visa agreement between South Korea and the United States. As discussed in the
previous chapter, eleven participants in the study held tourist visas. Many of them
mentioned that they obtained their tourist visas through brokers, would go back
every three to four months to Korea before their visa expiration, and would return
after a one‐ or two‐month stay in Korea. One participant stated that her entry
route changed along with her visa status. According to her,
A broker in South Korea helped her make fraudulent documents to obtain passport
and enter Canada. After she entered Canada, she was taken into the custody of
young people (she believed they were Korean students studying in either the U.S.
or Canada) for three days in Canada and then she was smuggled into the U.S.
Later, she didn’t need to be smuggled into the U.S. because she obtained a U.S.
visa. She currently remains as an illegal alien because of her visa violation.
Thirty‐Three percent of participants worked in the sex trade business in South
Korea and obtained the information about the U.S. business from friends
already working in the U.S. sex trade. Some participants who came to the U.S.
legally reported that they had searched various Internet cafés or printed
newspaper advertisements in local Korean newspapers in New York City.
Figure 5.3 shows an example of a local newspaper advertisement regarding
massage parlors or room salons. Some participants also mentioned they flew to
the U.S. with valid visas, stayed in a sauna facility for a couple of days, and
met a female broker who introduced them to a massage parlor owner. We
found that Korean women working as sex‐trade workers in U.S. were contacted
in various ways by Korean and/or U.S. brokers.
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
74
Trafficking/Smuggling Route
The longest trafficking/smuggling route we identified from our participants
starts from China, using ships illegally entering South Korea, to Japan, to
Canada, and finally the United States. Most Korean-Chinese had first used sea
routes to get into Korea through Chinese brokers who also had links to brokers
in Korea. After arrival in South Korea, brokers often choose Japanese cities as
transfer locations, where they also could connect many Korean brokers in
Japan, since Japan is another destination of Korean sex trafficking. This
practice gives more opportunities to Korean brokers. Brokers likely manipulate
the practice, negotiate charges with women, and persuade them that they can
make some money in Japan before they go to the U.S. Five participants in the
study mentioned that they worked at various sex trade businesses in Japan.
Often, they were told to learn better massage techniques while they were in
Japan and then they could depart after a couple of months. One participant
indicated that she stayed only a day in Japan before she was transported to
Canada, where she stayed for only three days before she was finally smuggled
to the U.S. It is clear, the trafficking/smuggling process is a machine that
works at a high speed.
The second longest route reaches from South Korea to Japan, then to Canada
or Mexico, and finally the United States. In addition to Japan being the first
transit nation for Korean-Chinese and Korean women trafficking and smuggling,
Canada and Mexico were also major transit nations. It remains to be seen
whether they can retain their status as favorite transit nations after the visa
agreement between the U.S. and Korea in 2008, which allows Koreans to
travel to the United States for up to 90 days visa‐free. Four participants in the
study told us they used Canada as a transit nation while one Korean-Chinese
came to the U.S. via Mexico. Although many Korean women can fly directly
Sex Trafficking and Smuggling Process
75
into the U.S. from Korea, some may face difficulty in passing through U.S.
immigration checkpoints in U.S. airports. Many brokers help women obtain a
proper Korean passport to get into the U.S. while they also prefer to choose
other transit nations that have less strict immigration processes as their final
flight destinations.
Figure 5.4. Trafficking/Smuggling Routing Map
After they arrive in these transit nations, women also have to be smuggled
across the border that is an illegal crossing. In this circumstance, women and
brokers often cross borders illegally by running and walking, which is referred
to as “jumping,” or they hide themselves inside a car trunk or under the seat
of a large cargo van. This smuggling process is done with the help of
specialized Korean brokers. Two participants went through this smuggling
process. One couldn’t remember where and how she crossed the border. A
group of Korean women, just followed brokers at night and it only took about
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
76
15 minutes to arrive in the United States. Once they successfully crossed the
border, a taxi driver was waiting for them and escorted them to the designated
city, Seattle. The other participant said she was instructed to hide herself under
the car seat when she was crossing the Canadian border checkpoint. According
to her, six other people were in a big car (Recreational Van or RV) and a
broker couple drove them all the way down from Canada to New York City.
Embedded after their arrival to the U.S.
We found that by the time the women were taken into the United States, they
owed the recruiters and other brokers a large debt, ranging from $5000 to
$40,000 depending on their trafficking/smuggling route. They were typically
placed in the custody of a network of transporters/middlemen who drove them
to several prostitution businesses.
Ten participants indicated that they used their saving accounts but many also
indicated that they promised to pay back their debt to the brokers while they
were working as sex workers in the U.S. For this reason, many were also
placed under the supervision and custody of the owner or manager when they
were delivered to a sex‐trade business location. In the federal document, many
owners were criminally charged because they took all identification and travel
documents from the women to restrict their ability to leave. Three participants
indicated their passports were taken away. Interestingly, two participants in the
study indicated their passports were voluntarily given to owners or transporters
(middlemen) because they needed to show some kind of evidence that they
would pay back the debt to the brokers. Another participant mentioned that the
massage parlor owner asked for her passport to put it in a safe place because
many women lose their passports.
Sex Trafficking and Smuggling Process
77
Figure 5.5. U.S. Domestic Sex Trade Process
Those who needed to pay back their debt began working in the sex trade.
Their earnings were credited against their outstanding debts to the brokers. At
this point, they were caught in the cycle of the sex trade business. They were
circulated among various sex trade businesses. We found that some requested
to move to better sex trade locations while others were placed without knowing
where they were being transported. One participant stated that her passport was
returned when she paid back her $10,000 debt to the broker.
In sum, the trafficking and smuggling process for sexual exploitation among
Korean women violates several U.S. Federal codes, as illustrated in Figure 5.5.
We summarize the experience of these Korean women in the following way:
they were transported in many interstate sex‐trade business locations knowing
their activities were illegal; they were induced, enticed, and coerced to travel
to these sex trade locations to work as sex workers by middlemen, transporters,
owners, and managers; and that they provided illegal sex services to others.
Even if it is unclear when and how we can distinguish between smuggling and
Human Trafficking and Smuggling of Korean Women for Sexual Exploitation to the United States
78
trafficking, we found there were many situations where these two concepts
applied to the same situation. In particular, many of the smuggled individuals
suffered various forms of sexual exploitation resulting in physical and
psychological victimization through the cycle of the sex trade process. Although
most relevant criminal cases of Korean women known to us involved
prostitution, we found that many of these women were also exploited. Such
exploitation occurred during trafficking or smuggling for sex work by
deception, coercion, inducement, and sexual abuse. This included such things as
exaggerated promises of their monthly income, fraud victimization, circulation
to many different sex trade locations, harsh working conditions, and sexual
abuse by brokers, owners, and other parties involved in organized criminal
activities. As discussed at the beginning of the paper, neither the UN Protocol's
2000 international definition of trafficking of persons, nor the U.S. federal law's
definition of severe forms of trafficking, requires the victim's movement.
Therefore, our research finds that “the presence of exploitation and coercion” in
the cases of many individuals we interviewed fit into the criteria of victims of
human trafficking.
79
Transnational Crime
Displacement
This chapter introduces a theoretical background on crime displacement of
human trafficking and smuggling for sexual exploitation. It provides general