Amusement park staff in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, are being investigated for sexually extorting minors, including an elementary school student.
Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Tuesday said they handed the case of seven people to the prosecution, where they are suspected of forcing 10 girls into prostitution for eight months beginning in August last year.
They worked as disc jockeys for the Disco Pang Pang attraction, a circular ride that spins up and down to shake riders in their seats while the disc jockeys play songs and jokes, according to local media reports.
The employees took advantage of their popularity with minors and asked them to buy lump sums of tickets for the ride to help fulfill their sales goals.
When students they approached said that they could not afford to buy many tickets, the suspects lent them money, which led to coerced sex trafficking of those who could not pay back the debt.
The students were forced to post texts on social media or chat applications to seek buyers of sex or to have sexual intercourse with men brought by the disc jockeys.
The suspects also detained or beat the minors who did not meet the quotas they demanded, and extorted money from sex buyers by blackmailing them on threats of reporting them to police.
Police caught the suspects after a report by the parents of a victim, but their illicit revenues are suspected to have been spent on lavish entertainment.
While police are searching for accomplices, they are to look into other theme parks for similar crimes as well.
