Police conducted a special crackdown focused on "corporate-style prostitution rings," in which three or more people divide roles to operate, and arrested 1,666 people. They also took pre-indictment seizure and forfeiture preservation measures, freezing 19.5 billion won in criminal revenue.
The Korean National Police Agency announced the results of the special online and offline prostitution crackdown on Aug. 10. From June 1 to July 31 this year, it carried out 761 crackdowns. That was up 24% (145 cases) from 616 in the same period last year.
In particular, crackdowns on corporate-style prostitution rose from 10 last year to 50 this year. Police said the increase came from focusing on tracking the core of brokerage networks—such as site operators, administrators, and ad brokers—to dismantle the organizations and cut off criminal revenue.
The total number of arrests also rose 61%, from 1,038 in the same period last year to 1,666 this year, and criminal revenue preserved for pre-indictment seizure and forfeiture jumped more than fourfold, from 4.8 billion won last year to 19.5 billion won this year. The scale of taxable data reported to the National Tax Service also jumped 3.8 times, from 18.3 billion won to 70 billion won.
To block online channels that broker prostitution, police shut down 11 prostitution websites and blocked 16,956 phone numbers used in prostitution ads.
The Korean National Police Agency increased staffing for prostitution investigation teams by 40 early this year and created new teams in Gangwon and Jeju to respond to prostitution crimes.