SEOUL: In a landmark move, dozens of South Korean women who worked as prostitutes near US military bases have filed a lawsuit accusing the American military of fostering the sex trade for decades and subjecting them to forced treatment for sexually transmitted diseases.
At a news conference Monday, the women and their lawyers said they want an apology and compensation from the US military, which they called “the real culprit” behind a state-backed system of exploitation. They allege that US forces tolerated, and even managed, brothels around their installations, allowing “comfort women” into bases and training grounds.
The case follows a 2022 ruling in which South Korea’s Supreme Court ordered the government to compensate victims, finding it guilty of promoting prostitution for US troops as a means of earning foreign currency and shoring up the alliance with Washington. The court also found the government forced women into “systematic and violent” medical checks.
The latest lawsuit, filed in a Seoul court Friday, is the first attempt to hold the US military directly accountable. One woman, now 66, said she was sold to a pimp at 16. She claimed the military knew minors were being trafficked but did nothing to stop it.
The women say they have lived for decades in stigma, unlike victims of Japan’s wartime military brothels who gained broader public sympathy. They argue their suffering has been obscured by South Korea’s reliance on its US alliance.
US troops have been stationed in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War. Scholars say women in the “camptowns” were often abducted or deceived with promises of jobs, only to be trapped in debt bondage to pimps.
