Not long ago, a study by Seoul City University in South Korea was published in major Newspapers in South Korea.
In the Han River, South Korea's "mother river" flowing through Seoul, a large number of "Viagra" components have been detected.
The slightly embarrassing study, published in the serious academic journal Science Reports, was presented by an international team led by Kim Hyun-wook, a professor in the Department of Environmental Engineering.
They were testing the composition of water near the sewage treatment plant, but they accidentally found sildenafil, tadalafil, valdenafil, cilix and Elida in it...
Simply put, it is an aphrodisiac drug that treats erectile dysfunction and allows men to "regain their masculinity".
At this stage, the sewage treatment plant does not treat the "Viagra ingredient in the water".
Therefore, Viagra is continuously discharged into the Mother River, and the drug content in the river water far exceeds the standard.
That is to say, before you know it, the local people may have drunk Viagra water for a long time...
Why is this happening? In fact, there is a hint from the data.
The research team examined viagra concentrations at different locations at different times of the week.
In Jiangnan District, where nightlife is abundant and entertainment venues are concentrated, the average concentration of Viagra in jiangshui is 88ng/l.
In jiangbei, it is 62ng/l.
In addition, from the perspective of time, every weekend, the concentration will be higher than on weekdays.
The highest concentration time is Friday night.
To sum up: on weekends, in areas with a lot of nightlife, Viagra drugs are used in large quantities ...
Professor Kim Hyun Wook speculates that these drugs are likely to be related to South Korea's rampant pornography industry.
South Korea's pornography industry has been tacitly approved since the founding of the people's republic.
After World War II, the U.S. military stationed in South Korea naturally spawned a lot of pornography industry.
The South Korean government at the time acquiesced to and even encouraged its existence as part of the country's economic development.
The pornography industry for the U.S. military even contributed nearly 25 percent of South Korea's gross domestic product at one point.
Later, South Korea's own economy also developed, but the pornography industry did not disappear, but "export to domestic sales", from facing the US military to facing South Korea.
Statistics from the Korean Criminology Association show that half of the 1,050 South Korean men surveyed have bought spring.
One in five South Korean men in their 20s spends money on prostitution every week.
According to a 2011 survey, the per capita consumption of the Japanese industry was $157 that year, ranking second in the world.
And it is South Korea, which ranks first in the world , at $527 per capita.
The name "big country in the pornography industry" is firmly on south Korea's head.
Even though South Korea has been trying to clean up and ban the pornography industry, it still accounts for 4% of the country's GDP, which is the size of agriculture.
All the bans and rectifications are nothing more than turning the blatant "red light district" into a barber shop, massage room, glass room, leisure house, kissing room...
On Reddit, someone once posted about various experiences of recruiting prostitutes in South Korea, listing a dozen different sex trading venues.
Kiss Room Kiss Room: Young schoolgirls will snuggle up and kiss you in a dark room, make you touch your chest, and maybe shoot a pistol.
Barbershops: Dilapidated little shops are full of elderly women, offering hand-to-hand services or doing full sets.
Window Shops Glass House: Professional prostitutes stand in the glass vitrines, go in and take a shower and go to bed, and shouldn't expect much, as they may host dozens of customers a night.
The South Korean government estimates that about 500,000 women are employed in the sex industry, while the Korean Feminist Association estimates that the actual figure may even be as high as one million.
If this figure is true, it means that one in every 25 South Korean women has to sell their bodies for a living.
In that Reddit post, someone mentioned —
"In such establishments, many girls are forced to sell themselves, and they are essentially sex slaves.
Usually, they borrow money because of some opportunity, and the profit rolls until it becomes a debt cycle and they have to fall into the dust. ”
The developed pornography industry also means countless implicit sexual exploitation.
For example, Room N - clicking on a "fishing link", it is forced to slide down step by step, from taking nude photos, to carving words on your body with a knife, to providing sexual services to the person designated by the offender...
Even glamorous female celebrities can be forced to provide sexual services to more powerful people.
South Korea's pornography industry has become a huge whirlpool full of mud, and it no longer matters whether it is "voluntary" or not.
The woman who was forced to sell herself in the N room incident, the actress in the show business circle who committed suicide because she was forced to pick up customers... Even any woman who slipped down the bottom floor.
From college students to showbiz stars.
From young women, to the elderly.
Even if they are no longer young and want to live, they may still be swallowed up by the whirlpool, and it is difficult to get out.
CNA has interviewed elderly women who are engaged in prostitution in South Korea.
One of them, Grandma Park, 78, stands on the street for at least six hours a day, waiting for customers.
She is a "Bao Jia Shi Girl" who ostensibly sells a health drink called Bao Jia Shi, but actually sells herself.
She had to do it because at the age of 70 she was suffering from arthritis, couldn't find a job, and had no way to feed her children.
She buys $250 a month in arthritis medication: "Even if I die, I need to go to the hospital and give the bones injections, otherwise it hurts too much." ”
When someone approaches her, she needs to offer to pitch: "$10 for the room, $30 for a woman." ”
"It was embarrassing... It's really embarrassing, I'm already too old. But in order to survive, I can only close my eyes and wait for it to pass. ”
On this street, the oldest sex workers are a full 82 years old, and the youngest is also 50 years old.
They all had grandchildren and had to become prostitutes.
"I know I shouldn't have done it. But no one can accuse me of not living without doing so. ”
She didn't sell herself when she was younger, but now, she has to do so in order to survive.
"No one becomes a prostitute because they like it. This is a problem for society as a whole. ”
The movie "Miss Dionysus" tells the story of an elderly prostitute
This is indeed a problem for society as a whole.
When selling one's body becomes the only option to survive, merely morally accusing them of depravity does not solve the problem.
South Korea can reinvent the industry, but until more problems are addressed, the industry will only become more stealthy and more creative, rather than disappear completely.
In South Korea, the economy is firmly in the hands of the chaebols, and everyone relies on the sniffles of the consortium to survive.
The status of men and women is very different, women naturally face job search disadvantages, and the difficulties they face are more likely to make people struggl.
And it's so easy to go down – the developed industry can easily induce people to be forced to take a step back in desperate times.
In South Korea's Mother River, the ingredients of "Viagra" were detected.
It seems to be a bit of embarrassing and funny news, but behind it is extremely serious research, as well as more serious social problems.
Difficult to reverse, difficult to control, difficult to solve ...