South Korea asks for help to fight sex slavery

 
The South Korean government is working with Australian police to crack down on organised-crime gangs bringing women here as sex slaves.
The Koreans have met top foreign affairs and immigration officials, along with the Australian Federal Police, to discuss better ways to put a stop to Korean women working in the Australian sex industry. They are particularly concerned about ''debt bondage or trafficking'' scams.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that a meeting ''late last year discussed a range of bilateral issues''.
A senior Korean official told the sex trade was ''a very significant issue'' for them and that several investigations were in progress into Korean syndicates operating in Australia.
''It is very difficult to find the number, but our assumption is 1000 Korean nationals are working here,'' he said. ''We know prostitution is legal in some parts of Australia but it is illegal in Korea. But, if the women are victims of trafficking, or in slave-like conditions, then it is illegal under both countries' laws.''
Korea also wants the Australian authorities to help catch and prosecute these criminals in Korea.''We want to stop Korean sex workers doing sex business in Australia and to stop the organisations associated with this activity,'' he said.