military leaders in Korea, just like their counterparts in Germany, worried about the interactions between American troops and local women. What Works Mayors to Congress: ‘Get a Backbone’ and Pass Gun ControlĪs World War II came to a close, U.S. If you want to know more about what’s at the root of the military’s struggles with sexual abuse, look no further than Songtan. It has only grown more secretive and creative in its subterfuge. But prostitution has far from disappeared.
#KOREAN MILITARY STRUGGLES ROOT OUT SEXUAL CRACK#
government to ban solicitation in the military and the South Korean government to crack down on the industry. In recent years, exposés and other investigations have shown just how openly prostitution has operated around American bases, leading the U.S. occupation of Korea, when GIs casually bought sex with as little as a cigarette, these camptowns have been at the center of an exploitative and profoundly disturbing sex industry-one that both displays and reinforces the military’s attitudes about men, women, power and dominance. bases have become deeply entrenched in the country’s economy, politics and culture. The problems associated with the sex trade are particularly pronounced in South Korea, where “camptowns” that surround U.S. Many look much the same, filled with liquor stores, fast-food outlets, tattoo parlors, bars and clubs, and prostitution in one form or another. bases around the world, from Baumholder in Germany to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Today, commercial sex zones thrive in tandem with many U.S. Women’s sex work has long been used to help keep male troops happy-or at least happy enough to keep working for the military. But women haven’t just washed the laundry, cooked the food and nursed injured troops back to health. As long as armies have been fighting each other, and long before women were widely seen on the battlefield, female labor has been essential to the everyday operation of most militaries. military, it would have been a familiar sight. Near a small food cart, a sign read, “man only massage prince hotel.”įor anyone in the U.S. Groups of younger GIs walked together through the red-light-district-meets-pedestrian-mall scene, peering into bars and considering their options. Some were chatting with a handful of GIs, young and old. In other bars, groups of mostly Filipina women in tight skirts and dresses talked to one another, leaning over the table as they shot pool. Many of the bars have stages with stripper poles for women to dance to the flash of stage lights and blasting music. As the night progressed, hip-hop boomed out of bars along the main pedestrian mall and from second-floor clubs with neon-lit names like Club Woody’s, Pleasure World, Whisky a-Go-Go and the Hook Up Club. All rights reserved.Īt night in the Songtan camptown outside Osan Air Base in South Korea, I wandered through streets that were getting louder and more crowded now that the sun had set. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, published by Metropolitan Books, a division of Henry Holt and Company (c) David Vine 2015. This article has been adapted from his latest book, Base Nation: How U.S. David Vine is associate professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, DC.
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