Participants in South Korean beauty pageant asked to provide sexual favours.

Participants from various countries at an international beauty pageant hosted by South Korea are asked to provide "sexual favors." Police who report the allegations are also being bribed.

 Allegations that participants from various countries at an international beauty pageant hosted by South Korea were sexually harassed and even asked to provide "sexual favors" have been made, causing a stir.

 According to reports by British media including the BBC on the 19th, Amy Willerton (19), a British woman (pictured), who participated in the 2011 Miss Asia Pacific World competition held in South Korea from the 1st to the 15th of this month, said, "I was sexually harassed by Korean officials, who tried to remove my jacket, among other things."

 Willerton also claims that members of the organizing committee blatantly asked participants for sexual favors, saying, "You know what you need to do to win, right?"

 The Miss Asia Pacific World organizing committee is made up of South Koreans. Over 50 participants from various countries held events in Seoul, Daegu, and other locations from the 1st, before competing in the finals in Busan on the 15th. The grand prize was $20,000 (approximately 1.5 million yen).

 Willerton testified that the organizers gave her a room without a bed and only provided her with one meal a day, and pointed out that the winner was Miss Venezuela, who did not participate in the talent competition. She also claimed that she reported the sexual harassment to the police, but that organizing committee officials bribed the police right in front of her. Willerton left Korea mid-way through the competition.

 Choi Young-cheol, a founder of the organizing committee, said, "There were shortcomings in the hotel reservations made by the local organizing committees.

As for the sexual harassment, one factor was that foreigners were sensitive to Korean-style greetings and the like."

 He also acknowledged that the tight schedule meant that some participants were unable to get meals. The Daegu Bukbu Police Station, which responded to the report, said, "We explained to the reporter how to file a sexual harassment complaint. We received a business card at the scene, but no money or gifts were ever received."

http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/21/2011102100750.html

http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/img_dir/2011/10/21/2011102100750_thumb.jpg

 Considering that this type of scandal is being reported in major newspapers, it seems fair to say that freedom of speech and the press is at least better secured in Korea than in Japan. Even in Japan, "sex for money," sexual harassment, and power harassment are apparently rampant in the entertainment industry. But because the "clients" are executives of sponsoring companies, CEOs, and other senior executives of major corporations, the major newspapers never report on them. Occasionally, a weekly magazine will publish a scoop article.

 When the former prime minister's geisha scandal occurred in 1989, foreign media outlets began to make a fuss and distribute articles all over the world, and Japanese media outlets followed suit and began reporting on it as well.

 One of the most important indicators of freedom of the press and freedom of speech is the presence or absence of taboo. In that respect, Japanese mass media reporting is next to garbage. My impression is that South Korea is far ahead.