Itaewon Prayer Walk

Itaewon Prayer Walk

35 And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. (Matthew 9:35-38 ESV)

 

Praying On-site with Insight

  • About 22,000 people reside in the district and it is a popular area for residents of Seoul, tourists, and U.S. military personnel.
  • There are people from over 60 countries living within a small two-mile radius of Gospel City.
  • It’s been considered the number one party city in the world due it the city’s

 

Hooker Hill

  • There is a portion of Itaewon known as “Hooker Hill.”It is a massive issue. Some stats about sex industry in Korea.
  • It includes: Red Light Districts, massage parlors, room salons, juicy bars, officetels, karaoke bars, kiss rooms, brothels, strip clubs, tea & coffee delivery, escort services, “dating” websites, some chatting sites, and pornography. The sex industry is not just the above; the list goes on.
  • Despite its illegality, prostitution and the sex trade is 1.6 percent of South Korea’s annual gross domestic product, approximately 14 trillion South Korean won ($13 billion)— about the size of the fishing and agriculture industries combined. in 2007
  • The South Korean government’s Ministry for Gender Equality estimates that about 500,000 – 1.2 million.
  • 1 out of every 25 women in the country is selling her body for sex.
  • For women between the ages of 15 and 29, up to one-fifth have worked in the sex industry at one time or another.
  • One-fifth of men in their 20s buy sex at least four times a month, creating an endless customer base for prostitutes.

 

Why?

  • Al-Jazeera reported that some 200,000 South Korean youths run away from home annually, with many of them descending into the sex trade, according to a report by Seoul’s municipal government.
  • A separate survey suggested that half of female runaways become prostitutes.
  • All these statistics fly in the face of South Korea’s stellar image as a society that consistently produces brilliant, hard-working, motivated students and technocrats. However, it is precisely that academic pressure (along with other family issues) that drives many of these teens onto the streets.
  • Prostitution is so deeply embedded in Korea’s culture that it is often invisible or overlooked and simply accepted as a part of culture.
  • “It’s a $13 billion a year reality … and it’s not going anywhere.”
  • Because South Korea is not widely socially accepting of homosexuals, there is an underground gay area in this district as well.

 

Sources

 

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