Women’s Worlds 2005　9^th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women　June 2005

“Comparative Analyses of Militarization of Sex :Japanese Army in Colonial Korea and American Occupation Forces in Liberated Korea ”

“Documents on US military’s attitude towards prostitution and sexual violence of the US military in South Korea in the 1940s and 1950s”

林博史HAYASHI Hirofumi (Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama)

                    *All documents are collections of the US National Archives.

1  US military’s attitude towards prostitution

Occupation of South Korea    

         the 24th Corps, US → United States Armed Forces, Korea(USAFK)

1948  Deterioration of discipline and Increase of Venereal Diseases(VD) among US soldiers　

1948　Increase of wrongful acts by GIs       March-May　130 arrested in Seoul

Countermeasure against VD

　　  Periodical Inspection of prostitutes　

1949　VD inspection of ‘Entertainers’     　53664 inspected 　

 

After the Korean War began

           The 8th Army moved to Korea from Japan

June 1950− 　VD rate decreased but increased again from the beginning of 1951

1951　　 Pusan   Population increased from 470.000 to 900.000

  　April 1951     Registered Entertainers (waitress, dancer, prostitute)  2161 

                                       un-registered 1454   Total 3615           VD inspection

 March 1951    1336 VD infected among 2543 inspected (53.7%)

 Cooperation with the UN Civil Assistance Command , Korea (UNCACK) and Police

May 1951   The Pusan team of the UNCACK drew up a VD control plan

July 1951 　UNCACK　  Plan for VD Control Program in Korea

　　　　Periodical inspection of Entertainers started in Pusan

UNCACK’s assistance to the Health Department of Korea

 

 The Regulated Prostitution System was introduced by the initiative of the US military before the Korean War. After the Korean War broke out and the front line began to remain stagnant at the 38th parallel, the regulated prostitution system began to be implemented first in Pusan.  　　        

This policy in Korea was different from that in Japan where the US military officially prohibited its GIs from visiting prostitution houses.

   

2  Documents on Criminal Offenses by the US soldiers

March 1951   EUSAK alarmed the increase of criminal offenses by US soldiers.

April 1951  　EUSAK inspected every troop.

               The commander was shocked by reports from each troop.

June 1951    EUSAK instructed preventive measures.

June 1951    Far East Command(FEC) in Japan warned the 8th Army of increasing criminal offenses, such as rape, murder, robbery and so on. 

 There are several documents on criminal offenses including sexual violence by US soldiers in Korea, Okinawa, and Japan: such as investigation reports, periodical reports, memorandum, and so on. 　

 

[Summary]  “A Historical Study of the US Military’s Policy toward Prostitution”
in The Journal of The Association for Research on the Impact of War and Military Bases on Women's Human Rights, No.7, March 2005.       HAYASHI, Hirofumi
[This is a summary of my article in Japanese.]　　　
                       林博史「アメリカ軍の性対策の歴史」 『女性・戦争・人権』第７号　                      

  The Sexual violence and pro-prostitution attitude of the US military have been severely criticized in Japan and other countries. Several articles have recently been devoted to the study of the US military’s pro-prostitution policy in Japan during the US occupation and in the 1950s.  These studies demonstrate that the US military protected and even encouraged prostitution for their soldiers. However, only few attempts have so far been made at the historical survey of the policy toward prostitution of the US military, including the military authorities in Washington DC and expeditionary forces stationed at various parts of the world. The purpose of this paper is to examine the US military’s policy toward prostitution from the beginning of the 20th century, when the US acquired overseas territories such as Guam, the Philippines and so on, to the 1950s. The War Department adopted the policy of suppressing prostitution in the early 1910s, partly because it was influenced by the progressivism in those days, but mainly because it was afraid of the spread of venereal diseases. Although this policy has been maintained for a long time, it began to waver during the Second World War because of the development of an infallible remedy for venereal diseases. Since venereal diseases came to be easily cured, the policy virtually began to be relaxed abroad while it was still maintained for public principle in order not to be blamed at home. Briefly stated, the US policy has been different from that of Japan and European countries that officially regulated prostitution.  

 

I am conducting research on the US policy to prostitution and military sexual violence in the 1940s and 1950s in East Asia including Korea , the Philippines , Okinawa, and Japan . I would be grateful if you could give me any advice or suggestion. Thank you.