Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S./Korea Relations, by Katharine H.S. Moon

Preface

To my Teachers at Smith College,
1982Ð1986,
with gratitude and love

This case study is based on interviews conducted and documents collected in the United States (mostly Washington, D.C.), the Republic of Korea, and Geneva, Switzerland, from 1989 through 1992. In addition, a few interviews were conducted in 1993. Written information is identified in the Notes on Sources. The main sources of written information on the Clean-Up Campaign include the following: 1) minutes of the SOFA Joint Committee, 1971Ð76; 2) minutes of the Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Civil-Military Relations of the SOFA Joint Committee, 1971Ð76; 3) reports, letters, memoranda, and other records found in files of various USFK/Eighth Army offices in Korea, and various ROK government documents regarding kijichÕon venereal disease control; 4) cables, policy statements, and memoranda regarding the control of venereal disease and crimes committed against kijichÕon prostitutes allegedly by U.S. servicemen, obtained from the Pentagon through Freedom of Information Act requests. Interviews include the following individuals:

U.S. Military. 1) in Washington, D.C.: Active military chaplains, officers in charge of Morale, Welfare, and Recreation policies, officers in charge of health policy; other relevant U.S. military personnel; 2) in the United States: retired military personnel who once were members of the Subcom- mittee on Civil-Military Relations or the Joint Committee during the 1971Ð76 period; 3) in Korea: current U.S. military personnel involved in or familiar with the 1971Ð76 Clean-Up Campaign (most in community relations offices), and current U.S. military personnel familiar with the effect of the Nixon Doctrine on U.S.-ROK and USFK-ROK relations.

Republic of Korea: 1) retired and active officials involved in the Clean-Up Campaign of the 1970s (primarily from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Home Affairs, Health and Social Affairs, and the Blue House Secretariat); 2) Korean women who had worked as camptown prostitutes during some part of 1971Ð76 (some of these women were interviewed in the United States by telephone). Conversations throughout 1991Ð92 with current camptown prostitutes and other camptown residents, as well as Korean activists staffing churches and counseling centers for camptown women, also informed this study. A list of the primary interviewees is included in the appendix. (Interviews conducted by telephone are indicated as such.)

Most of the retired USFK officers who had served on the Subcom- mittee were contacted through the various locator services of the U.S. military (their names are listed in the Joint Committee Minutes). Most of the ROK government officials interviewed were contacted through their respective government ministries or agencies. I am especially indebted to two ROK foreign service officers for helping me contact many of the interviewees.

All other interviewees were contacted through the "snowball" method, i.e., referred by other interviewees and individuals familiar with kijichÕ on life. Here, it must be noted that four of the former prostitutesÕ interviews were conducted through an intermediary. Given that most camptown prostitutes, especially of the early generations, refuse to discuss their past, owing to a sense of shame, pain, fear, and mistrust of people, especially strangers, the only way to get their response to my research questions was to have someone the women know and trust to ask the questions. Two such intermediaries, Mr. An and Mrs. Smith (pseudonyms) posed my questions to the women and afterwards conveyed the responses to me by telephone. Both individuals have known the women on a personal level and are very familiar with Korean camptown life, given that they themselves lived in them in the 1960s and 1970s. I informed them both in detail about the Clean-Up activities and my research agenda by telephone and letters so that they would have a clear framework from which to ask the research questions and elicit responses.

The transliteration of Korean terms and personal or place names (except Seoul) follows the McCune-Reischauer convention except in the case of quoted material or references in written documents. Names of Korean authors who have published their works in English are listed following each authorÕs preferred transliteration.

Index of Abbreviations

bccuc -- BaseÐCommunity Clean-Up Campaign

cg -- Commanding General

cinc -- Commander in Chief

dprk -- Democratic PeopleÕs Republic of Korea

eusa -- Eighth U.S. Army of the USFK

id -- Infantry Division

jc -- Joint Committee of the US-ROK Status of Forces Agreement

kafc -- Korean-American Friendship Council

ksta -- Korean Special Tourist Association

korscom -- Korea Support Command

knp -- Korea National Police

mofa -- Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ROK)

moha -- Ministry of Home Affairs (ROK)

mohsa -- Ministry of Health and Social Affairs (ROK)

moj -- Ministry of Justice (ROK)

mot -- Ministry of Transportation (ROK)

psyop -- Psychological Operations Detachment of EUSA

r&r -- rest and relaxation

rok -- Republic of Korea

rokg -- Republic of Korea Government

2d id -- Second Infantry Division

sofa -- Status of Forces Agreement

usagy -- U.S. Army Garrison, Yongsan

usea -- U.S. Eighth Army of the USFK

usfk -- United States Forces, Korea

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Sex Among Allies: Military Prostitution in U.S.-Korea Relations