'Legitimate massage,' they claimed—but quasi-sexual acts proliferate in downtown officetels

[Financial News] Businesses advertising themselves as offering "legitimate massage" continue to operate illegally in downtown Seoul officetels by providing quasi-sexual acts. Experts say that even if operators are not caught at the scene of prostitution, allegations can be substantiated through indirect evidence such as reservation records and payment histories.
According to a Financial News investigation on the 21st, officetel-style massage businesses in Seoul are recruiting customers through online advertisements and Telegram. They provide reservation phone numbers through promotional sites that appear when users search for massage-related keywords on portal websites, or direct users to Telegram information channels.
Most promotional sites listed each business's officetel address, massage prices, and the providers' "work schedules." They also featured promotional phrases such as "all Korean providers" and "free parking."
In Telegram information channels with hundreds to thousands of participants, introductions to the providers were even more explicit. In addition to profile photos, ages, heights, and weights, the channels contained sexually explicit descriptions of their physical features. Also conspicuous was a notice stating that the so-called "ledger" recording customers' service histories was not maintained.
When Financial News directly contacted an establishment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, via Telegram, it received the response, "The basic rate is 150,000 won per hour, with an additional 10,000 to 50,000 won depending on the provider." The establishment then said, "It's a course that includes a 'finish,'" adding, "If you tell us what features you want, we can find someone and connect you."
Some establishments also asked customers to provide an identification card or business card by text message. The stated purpose was to verify their identities and guard against undercover police officers.
Choi, a 30-year-old office worker who said he had visited officetel-style massage businesses since 2024, said, "When making a reservation, I provide my vehicle's license plate number and receive the officetel unit number. I enter at the reserved time, hand cash directly to the provider, and after showering, a quasi-sexual act takes place." He added, "In some cases, customers agree with the provider to pay extra for more explicit sexual acts."
Choi said, "I have often heard that there is generally no major problem as long as you are not caught at the scene." He added, "They do not accept card payments, and they say they delete reservation records such as ledgers every week, so I am not particularly anxious."
However, Daniel D. Baek, an attorney at law firm Anpak, explained, "Under the Act on the Punishment of Procuring Prostitution and Associated Acts and Supreme Court precedents, acts involving genital stimulation or inducing ejaculation, collectively referred to as a 'finish,' also constitute quasi-sexual intercourse and are illegal." He added, "Being caught directly at the scene is not an essential requirement, and in actual investigative practice, it is common for people to be placed under investigation based on indirect evidence."
He further noted, "In addition to ledgers listing employees' aliases, courses, and prices, CCTV footage, ATM withdrawal records, text messages providing room numbers, and call logs can also be used as evidence." He added, "Even if a person receives deferred prosecution, the case remains on record as a non-prosecution disposition and may be considered adverse history if the person commits a similar offense in the future."
Meanwhile, the number of people arrested for prostitution-related offenses has been declining. At a policy forum on preventing prostitution hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family at the Women's Human Rights Institute of Korea on the 18th, Jang Da-hye, a senior research fellow at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice (KICJ), said, "The number of people arrested for violating the Act on the Punishment of Procuring Prostitution and Associated Acts peaked at more than 70,000 in 2009 before falling to around 7,000 in 2024." She pointed out, "This resulted from a reduction in the scale and frequency of police crackdowns. Frontline police stations typically have only one officer responsible for prostitution-related cases, and these officers tend to transfer to other departments after a year because of the heavy workload involved in broader vice-enforcement duties."
That day, Song Bong-gyu, a professor at Hansei University, suggested, "The analytical unit for prostitution crackdowns should be expanded from individual sites to networks connecting platforms." He argued that authorities need to track the structure in which users move from advertising sites to social media and messaging apps before individual contact and transactions take place.
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