Hundreds Charged in Prostitution Bust in Southern Port City

Police have charged nearly 300 people for prostitution at a hostess bar in downtown Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, based on a “secondary ledger” obtained from the bar manager.

An investigation has begun into whether Mokpo area businessmen and civil servants received services from prostitutes as work-related treats.

Mokpo police said Tuesday that they booked 292 people without detention on prostitution charges. Among 252 men busted, 37 were civil servants and employees at state-owned companies and 94 were professionals including accountants, doctors and the self-employed. The remainder consisted of office workers and the unemployed.

Police sent the list of civil servants and staff at state-owned companies to their respective institutions.

Thirty-seven prostitutes and three bar workers including the manager were also charged. Police questioned the prostitutes on 86 alleged male clients who denied involvement in the case, but did not book them because they could not find anything suspicious.

A police officer said, “They said they didn’t remember the faces of the prostitutes or simply denied involvement.”

The secret ledger is known to contain personal information on 409 customers at the hostess bar who allegedly had sex with prostitutes from September last year to May this year. The ledger was found in June in a police investigation into an assault by a customer on a female employee.

Police obtained six books from the bar manager while searching for evidence of prostitution. The ledger contained the list of liquor sold, the names of hostesses who received customers, daily sales, prostitution costs, and the names, mobile numbers and occupations of clients.

shjung@donga.com