Free North Korea Radio (FNKR) has reported that the prostituting of North Korean female university students is becoming a substantial social problem in Chongjin and beyond.
Citing a source from the east coast city, FNKR reported over the weekend, “The number of ‘couple managers’, people who provide opportunities for teenage women to take drugs and prostitute themselves around Chongjin station at night, is increasing rapidly.”
Most of their customers are active duty officers and men in their 30s waiting for the train, the source asserted, explaining, “They (the prostitutes) wait in brothels until early evening; the couple managers go out into the neighborhood around the station to welcome visitors or ‘hunt’ them out for business.”
In addition, the correspondent explained, “The prostitution of teenage females is rampant, which has forced the security services of Chongjin to dispatch plain-clothed security officers to the station to crackdown on it. But the cleverly disguised prostitution of female university students is increasing, and some of them have close relationships with the same security officials who are participating in the crackdown. These conditions have made the situation uncontrollable.”
Meanwhile, the correspondent explained, “The amount which customers pay to the couple manager is about 5,000~8,000 won ($6-10), of which only about 2,500~4,000 won ($3-5) is given to the women since 30% is the share for the manager and 20% is kept for the cost of the room.”
The correspondent added also that the reason why the prostitution of female university students is increasing is due to “usage of drugs and the financial burden and difficult dormitory life of female university students from rural areas,” and asserted that the situation is the same in most other cities in North Korea as well.
