South Korea's Broadcast Media and Communications Deliberation Commission held a communications deliberation subcommittee meeting on Sunday and decided to request corrective action to block access to a total of 1,887 items of information on social networking services (SNS) that solicit or induce prostitution.

The commission said it took the action after closely monitoring information on SNS that uses slang implying prostitution such as "ㅈㄱ" (conditions) and "ㄱㄷ" (simple), presents prices and locations, and solicits or induces prostitution via direct messages (DM).

The corrective action also covered 250 items of information that lure minors into prostitution. A method was identified in which posts offered to buy cigarettes that minors cannot purchase, then lured them into prostitution. Child and juvenile prostitution is a serious crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won under the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse.

The commission said it has issued corrective action requests for 72,401 items of prostitution-related information over the past three years and taken self-regulatory deliberation measures on 52,360 items. It plans to simultaneously request overseas SNS platforms to delete the original posts that were subject to the corrective action.

The commission said, "We will continue monitoring so that SNS is not abused as a distribution channel for prostitution, and we will apply a zero-tolerance principle to unconventional information that exploits vulnerabilities among youths, responding quickly and strictly."