This paper considers whether the immigration of Korean sex workers to the United States constitutes sex trafficking or migrant smuggling. It describes the situation of Korean sex workers in the United States, the relationship between migrant smuggling and human trafficking and the modus operandi of migrant smuggling from the Republic of Korea to the United States.
The concepts of human trafficking and migrant smuggling are explored, with the paper adopting the definitions used in the Trafficking in Persons Protocol and the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol. Similarities and differences between human trafficking and migrant smuggling are highlighted, with three basic differences between the two concepts singled out: the source of profit, victimization and the illegality of migration.
Korean sex workers who are willing to go to the United States to work in the entertainment industry were the target population of the study. Because the subjects of the study were considered elusive due to their likely illegal and sex worker status, the author opted to use an ‘unconventional’ approach to address the question of the trafficking of Korean sex workers into the United States. Thus, the author studied virtual communities on the Internet. The author used Korean Internet search engines to locate a number of websites and Internet communities concerning overseas employment and narrowed the focus to one website that was still operational during the research period and that had many users. The author investigated three discussion forums that specialize in overseas work—‘overseas experience talk’, ‘question and answer about working overseas’ and ‘friends to work with’. To examine social interactions concerning the transnational movement of sex workers that occurred in the discussion forums of the website, the study adopted netnography as the research method. Netnography is explained as ethnography on the Internet, which is a new qualitative research methodology that adapts ethnographic techniques to study the cultures and communities that are emerging through computer-mediated communications. The study also drew on a trust model to explain why prospective immigrants trust smugglers or business owners under uncertain conditions.
The paper discusses the various push-and-pull factors for Korean women migrating legally or illegally to the United States to engage in sex work. The paper posits that the emergence of Korean sex workers in American society has been influenced by two main factors: the importation of the Korean entertainment culture in immigrant communities and the movement of Korean sex workers into the United States. As the Korean entertainment culture in the United States has grown, so has the supply of Korean sex workers.
The paper presents several models for entering the United States to engage in hostessing or sex work. Some women enter with the appropriate visas, whereas others rely on smugglers to facilitate forged or fraudulent documents or they enter neighbouring Canada and cross illegally into the United States. The paper argues that smugglers have various roles in the irregular immigration process. The basic role is to broker transactions between prospective immigrants and business owners. Some brokers work as managers of certain entertainment businesses, while others work as freelancers without belonging to specific shops but maintain networks with several business owners. The paper points out that some entertainment business owners work as smugglers to directly recruit sex workers for their businesses.
The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of human trafficking and migrant smuggling for the Korean and United States Governments and provides options on how both governments can respond to sex trafficking.
The paper contributes to the body of knowledge on migrant smuggling through its examination of the modus operandi of irregular migration of Koreans to the United States by using fraudulent or forged documents and the routes taken, for example, via Canada or Mexico.
