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Sex Among Allies. By Katharine H. S. Moon. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. ISBN 0-231-10643-2. Photographs. Tables. Notes. Appendixes. Bibliography. Index. Pp. xiii, 240. $16.50.
Katharine Moon's provocatively titled Sex Among Allies is a pathbreaking study of an aspect of postwar American military life that many would rather keep hidden. Moon examines the evolution of a system of regulated prostitution sponsored by the U.S. military and South Korean government during the early 1970s. The book draws on archival documents and interviews with policymakers and prostitutes to paint a vivid picture of the state of Korean-American relations between both policymaking elites and more humble American men and Korean women.
This is not an inspiring story. Moon makes it clear that during the 1960s, South Korea represented an unregulated GI sexual playing field. During this decade, an average of 20,000 prostitutes were available to "service" only...