성매매의 개념과 관련된 최근의 쟁점

Recent Issues on the Concept of Prostitution

As stated in the Article 1 of the Act on the Punishment of Prostitution for definition of purpose, it can be seen as an act enacted to eradicate ① act of prostitution, ② act of intermediating sex trade and ③ human trafficking for prostitution. In the Article 4 of the Act on the Punishment of Prostitution, it states that anyone is prohibited to conduct that corresponds with either one of these three types and defines in details according criminal punishment articles in the Article 18 and 27 of the Act. Accordingly, it can be said that discussions on the concept of 'prostitution' and scope of intermediation that can become the basic premise of interpreting the regulation on punishment of prostitution are the starting point of prostitution policy of our country. In addition, in-depth discussion on the definition of prostitution should not be neglected in the sense that new & varied forms of businesses that are difficult to be considered as being subjected to regulation in regards to the punishment of prostitution. Based on the awareness of such current situation, this paper will first compare the acts of prostitution under the Act on the Punishment of Prostitution and the acts of purchasing sex under 'the Act on the Juvenile Sex Protection' (hereafter, 'The Juvenile Sex Protection Law'). In specific, they will be divided into the issues of subject of acceptance, relation between acceptance and promise, relation between acceptance and provision and establishment of prostitution allurement & suggestion crime under the Act on the Punishment of Prostitution (Ⅱ). Next, it will analyze the conflict between the cases related to the acknowledgement scope of behavior similar to sexual intercourse and theories (Ⅲ), as well as critically approach the issue of whether to consider 'act that causes sexual sense of shame or disgust to ordinary people as an act of contacting & exposing the entire or parts of the body' and 'masturbation' as types of prostitution (Ⅳ). This paper will also evaluate the contents on a series of revised legislative bills of the Act on the Punishment of Prostitution regarding the applicability of criminal punishment of 'sexual service' that can be seen as a special issue in the case of inconsistency between 'a person that accepted or promised to accept money & valuable or other property gains' and 'a person that performs prostitution or the counterpart' (Ⅴ) with a conclusion of discussion (Ⅵ).