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Assignment: South Korea: Sex in the Sunset Years

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South Korea: Sex in the Sunset Years

12/06/2014

BBC World Service - Assignment, South Korea: Sex in the Sunset Years

Why are some older South Korean women turning to prostitution?

Why are some older South Korean women are turning to prostituion?

It is the generation that raised South Korea from the ashes of war to one of the richest, most technologically advanced countries on earth. Even without a Confucian tradition of filial piety, you would think they would at least be made comfortable in their old age. But they are not. South Korea has the highest rates of suicide and relative poverty among senior citizens in the rich world. For some this has meant finding a second career to make ends meet. In Jongmyo Park in Seoul, Lucy Williamson finds an old profession getting some surprising new recruits. 

(Photo: A mural depicting an elderly man and woman kissing, taken in Seoul, South Korea. BBC copyright)

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