In Korea, the Seoul Northern District Court recently found a woman sex worker guilty of prostitution. She received a criminal fine of 1 mil won.

She was indicted way back in July 2012, but she requested that the court (i.e., the Seoul Northern District Court) ask the Constitutional Court for a constitutional review of the law criminalizing prostitution. The court accepted her request. But in March 2016, the Constitutional Court found the law constitutional (via a 6:3 vote). So the court had no choice but to find her guilty. (She had performed sex in exchange for KRW 130,000.)

The Constitutional Court basically felt:

1) Legalization promotes the commodification of sex, and selling/buying sex is inherently an unfair bargain (with negative ramifications).

2) The current laws do have an effect on curbing the selling/buying of sex, and continued criminalization (for both seller/buyer) is necessary.

To learn about how “prostitution” is defined in Korea, click here.

Below was a memorable Cops episode for me.

Thanks for reading!