Not to Get by but to Make Some Extra Money

A 26-year-old female, a piano major at an Australian music school, returned to Korea December last year during her winter break. She made a phone call to a matchmaking service firm while staying with a sibling at an upscale apartment in Seoul, which her parents bought for her.

She met a construction company executive aged 49 on a blind date arranged by the service. The date was set at a coffee shop near Jam-sil station at 5:00 p.m. on January 6. Shortly after, she had sexual relations with the man in a nearby motel and received 150,000 won. She made three million won in only a fortnight by meeting him 24 times.

She made money by giving piano lessons to junior high and high school students in the daytime and selling her body at night, each time receiving 130,000 to 200,000 won.

As it turned out, she is not the only one making some extra money for a better life.

The Yongsan police office in Seoul on March 8 said, “Of 800 males and females on the matchmaking service registry, 60 identified men and 40 women were investigated. Among the men are a venture company president and college professors, while among the women are university students, students studying overseas, and homemakers.“

A police officer said, “Over 70 percent of women are well-to-do in their 20s, who want to make some extra cash for cosmetics and clothes. Some have high class sedans.”

The police booked six people on a charge of sex trade without detention, and put the chairman of the matchmaking service firm under restraint on charges of arranging sex trade and taking in 250 million won since August 2004. It also plans to send 100 of the matchmaking service members who were already investigated to the prosecutor’s office.

ditto@donga.com