K-pop hopefuls from Brazil forced into prostitution in South Korea, police announce
- Seven Brazilian women who came to South Korea to work in the K-pop industry were instead forced into prostitution
- Five Korean men have been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, confinement and pimping
A group of Brazilian women who came to South Korea with dreams of becoming K-pop stars were instead forced into prostitution, according to police.
Police in Goyang city, in northern Gyeonggi province, confirmed on Sunday that five Korean men had been arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, confinement and pimping.
The men allegedly reached out through social media in early July to seven Brazilian women, mostly in their twenties and thirties, who were interested in Korean pop culture.
They allegedly convinced the women that they could help them become singers or models in South Korea, even providing the women with free round-trip flights. The women arrived in South Korea in mid-July.
But after they arrived, the men allegedly confiscated their passports, confined them at lodgings in Goyang and Paju in Gyeonggi province, and cancelled their return flights back to Brazil. They then sent the women to brothels, receiving 2 million won (US$1,650) per woman from pimps, according to the police.