SEOUL (Pacnews) — South Korean sailors’ sexual exploitation of teenage girls in Kiribati, a small island country in the Pacific Ocean, is continuing despite major international reports about the sex trade a few years ago, the National Youth Commission was quoted by The Korean Times as saying.
Three girls even gave birth to babies of Korean sailors because the men refused to use condoms, the commission said.
The commission interviewed 24 women who had sex with Korean sailors during an investigation in Kiribati last December. One-third of them were under 19, the legal age of consent in Korea, and one girl was 14 years old.
As most of such girls live in extreme poverty, they fall into commercial sex for money, it said.
In Kiribati, young sex workers associated with foreign fishing vessels are called “te korekorea,” — referring to the Korean sailors to whom the girls provide most of their services.
The commission estimated that about 40 to 50 women were involved with Korean sailors last year and the age that they entered the business was getting younger.
In general, Korean sailors refused to use condoms. Three women have given birth, and another two were pregnant.
The Korean sailors’ sexual exploitation of Kiribati young girls on their vessels berthed at Betio port or at bars near the port had been a serious and longstanding problem. The Kiribati government banned Korean vessels from stopping there for a while in 2003.
Cases involving Korean sailors were reported to an international workshop on commercial sexual exploitation of children in Nov. 2004. Following the report, the commission went to Kiribati in June 2005 and found that Koreans had bought sex with about 50 women.
However, despite Korean media reports, the sex trade there was suspended for only six months. Last December, UNICEF released a report criticizing Korean sailors’ behavior in Kiribati and announcing plans to expand its investigation.
The commission will discuss the issue this week with related authorities, including the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. The ministry will order fishing companies to supervise their workers more strictly.
“The sexual exploitation by Korean sailors was suspended for six months in 2005 when they did not disembark following the media reports. That means rooting out the trade is possible through the fishery companies’ supervision,” a commission staff member said.