Three S. Korean men running prostitution ring in HCMC arrested

Kim Tea Hyung, 48, Cha Jinyoung, 46, and Lee Hyun Jun, 25, are being questioned for "brokering sex services," they said Monday.

The arrests followed a raid on Gallery restaurant on Bui Thi Xuan Street on the night of July 19 that also netted 52 women offering sex services to customers.

Kim and Cha opened the restaurant last year and hired around 80 women to offer sex services to foreign customers at VND3-4 million (US$126-170).

Lee is the restaurant’s general manager.

The place has 30 karaoke rooms and only serves foreigners, mostly South Koreans. The police said the rooms are not legally registered with the authorities.

Kim had also hired around 20 Vietnamese as managers, staff and guards.

The prostitutes also had to accompany customers out, usually to hotels or rented apartments.

Cha was hiding in Can Tho City when the police tracked him down. He told them that he was waiting to return to his country.

The police said the three South Korean men and their Vietnamese accomplices have earned VND4 billion from the prostitution ring.

In Vietnam, sex work has long been considered a social evil and pimping is a crime.