Five Sites Raided in Move to Sever Alleged String of Korean Brothels

They called it the Sassy Skin Care Salon, but authorities say it catered to carnal, rather than cosmetic, interests.

The El Monte storefront was among five San Gabriel Valley businesses, motels and residences raided late Friday in an effort to break up what sheriff’s deputies described as a local branch of a nationwide network of Korean-staffed houses of prostitution.

Young Korean women, often entering the United States under the guise of being wives of military personnel, move from city to city to practice prostitution, Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Wehner said. The brothels, allegedly overseen by armed guards, are usually based in store fronts that ostensibly offer skin care, acupuncture or other quasi-medical services.

Among the 20 people arrested Friday were Jong (June) Ock Hahn, 30, and Steven Mao, 29, believed to be residents of Arcadia who were described as key suspects in the operation.

Hahn, authorities said, owned the Sassy Salon, located in a mini-mall in the 9900 block of East Valley Blvd., and also a second alleged brothel in a storefront called 3322 Acupuncture, in the 3300 block of San Gabriel Blvd. in Rosemead.

Mao, according to Wehner, is suspected of soliciting some of the prostitutes who worked at the businesses.

The two suspects, whom police believe lived together, were arrested on suspicion of felony conspiracy for pimping and pandering and for operating a house of prostitution. They were held Saturday on $100,000 bail.

Wehner said the two businesses allegedly run by Hahn could best be labeled “franchises” for the nationwide vice ring.

“In this network of distributing prostitutes, for a certain investment--an average figure of $25,000 has been mentioned--you could get your storefront set up and have the prostitutes working for you,” said Wehner. “These women would usually come in through Texas and from there they would fan out to other areas throughout the United States. . . . They never stayed in one ‘franchise’ too long.”

In the last two years, authorities have reported prostitution arrests of women imported from Korea in more than a dozen cities from Farmington Hills, Mich., to Houston. Sheriff’s deputies say they have noticed “an unprecedented growth” of such brothels in Los Angeles County, but could not supply specific figures.

Authorities believe that many of the women enter the country by engaging in sham marriages with American servicemen abroad, who receive up to $10,000 in cash to participate.