S Korean 'sex tourists' may lose passports

SEOUL: South Korean "sex tourists" could lose their passports under new proposals to crack down on prostitution at home and abroad, media reports said on Thursday.   

The proposals and others directed at the Korean market were announced by the ministry of gender equality and family to mark the second anniversary of an anti-prostitution law.   

Since then, the number of brothels has fallen and more sex workers are training for new jobs, vice-minister Kim Chang-Soon was quoted by the Korea Times as saying.   

"However, there are also new kinds of problems to deal with, such as the sex trade going underground at hotels, massage parlours and bars, and the growing number of people going overseas to buy sex," he added.   

Kim said the government would form a special team to monitor Koreans buying sex overseas and investigate Internet dating services which were sometimes a front for the trade.   

Under a new law being drafted, authorities will be empowered to shut down hotels, massage parlours, karaoke bars and other establishments found to be offering sex.   

Building owners could be punished for knowingly renting space to sex operations.   

While the number of brothels has fallen since the 2004 law took effect, other establishments are filling the gap. The Korea Herald said a 50-day crackdown this summer recorded almost 14,700 offences, two-thirds of them involving massage parlours and what were described as "male resting rooms".