Yeongdeungpo district mayor's crackdown on sex trade near Yeongdeungpo Station lands on Yahoo Japan's front page

Yeongdeungpo-gu District Mayor Cho Yu-jin has drawn international attention for her efforts to shut down the red-light district near Yeongdeungpo Station, with an interview featuring her campaign landing on the front page of Yahoo Japan.

The Mainichi Shimbun, one of Japan's three major national dailies, published an interview with Cho on Thursday, highlighting the district's progress and determination in dismantling the red-light district — a long-standing priority for Yeongdeungpo-gu. The article was picked up almost immediately by Yahoo Japan, Japan's largest web portal, and drew more than 280 comments within five hours of going live.

The report noted that Yeongdeungpo-gu has been working closely with police and other agencies to step up enforcement, with demolition already under way at some buildings. It also highlighted that while most of Seoul's major red-light districts — including the once-sprawling "Miari Texas" area in Seongbuk-gu, which at its peak housed more than 300 establishments — have been shut down, Yeongdeungpo remains the last to be cleared, and the district is pursuing the effort on multiple fronts.

In practice, the district has installed three additional CCTV cameras in the back alleys near Times Square and replaced 10 of the 21 security lights along key alleyways, upgrading them from 50–75 watts to 100 watts to brighten the area as part of its crime-prevention push.

In June, the district also handed over land registry records, a list of redevelopment association members and redevelopment zone maps for select parcels in response to a police request for investigation materials.

The article also addressed the district's stance toward women working in the area. "We will place human rights and welfare as our top priorities, and do everything in our power to help women leaving the sex trade successfully reintegrate into society through vocational training and other support," Cho said in the interview.

Japanese readers responding online offered a range of views, with some writing that "the attempt to eliminate illegal prostitution zones is commendable," while others noted that "Japan too has deeply entrenched interests tied to the sex trade, making it far from easy to eradicate."

A Yeongdeungpo-gu district office official said the foreign media coverage reflected international recognition of the district's efforts to eliminate illegal activity and transform the urban environment around Yeongdeungpo Station. "We will mobilize every administrative power at our disposal to resolve the red-light district issue without fail," the official said.