生活艱難 韓國老人走上賣淫之路

Koreans could once be sure that their children would look after them in their old age, but no longer - many of those who worked hard to transform the country's economy find the next generation has other spending priorities. As a result, some elderly women are turning to prostitution.

據英國廣播公司網站（BBC）報道，韓國人過去可以肯定等他們老了，他們的子女會照顧他們，但是現在不行了——那些許多曾辛勤工作改變國家經濟的人發現下一代有其它更需要花錢的地方。以至於一些老年婦女走上了賣淫這條路。

Kim Eun-ja sits on the steps at Seoul's Jongno-3 subway station, scanning the scene in front of her. The 71-year-old's bright lipstick and shiny red coat stand out against her papery skin.

金恩子（音譯）坐在首爾鍾路3號地鐵站的臺階上，掃視着眼前的景象。她今年71歲，鮮豔的口紅和鮮紅的外套將她襯得更顯得蒼白如紙。

Beside her is a large bag, from which comes the clink of glass bottles as she shifts on the cold concrete.

她旁邊放着一個大包，她在冰冷的混凝土地上動一下，包裏的玻璃瓶就叮噹作響。

Mrs Kim is one of South Korea's "Bacchus Ladies" - older women who make a living by selling tiny bottles of the popular Bacchus energy drink to male customers.

金夫人是韓國“巴克斯酒女”的一員——老年婦女靠向男性推銷巴克斯酒（Bacchus，一種功能飲料）爲生。

But often that's not all they're selling. At an age when Korean grandmothers are supposed to be venerated as matriarchs, some are selling sex.

但是通常他們不只賣酒。在本該被尊爲家裏的女性長輩的年紀裏，有些韓國老年婦女卻在賣淫。

"You see those Bacchus Ladies standing over there?" she asks me. "Those ladies sell more than Bacchus. They sometimes go out with the grandpas and earn money from them. But I don't make a living like that.

“看見站在那裏的那些巴克斯酒女了嗎？”她問我。“那些婦女不只賣巴克斯。他們有時候和老男人出去，掙他們的錢。但我不幹這種營生。”

"Men do proposition me when I'm standing in the alleyway," she adds. "But I always say, 'No.'"

“我站在小巷裏賣酒的時候也有男人提出要跟我過夜，”她又說道，“但我都會說‘不。’”

Mrs Kim says she makes about 5,000 Won ($5, or ￡3) a day selling the drinks. "Drink up fast," she says. "The police are always watching me. They don't differentiate."

金夫人說她每天賣酒能掙5000韓元（人民幣31元）。“快點喝，”她說。“警察總是盯着我，他們不管我是不是也做這種事。”

The centre of this underground sex trade is a nearby park in the heart of Seoul. Jongmyo Park is a place where elderly men come to while away their sunset years with a little chess and some local gossip.

“巴克斯女郎”的地下性交易據點是首爾市中心附近的宗廟公園。老年人常到這裏下棋，聊聊家長裏短消磨時間。

It's built around a temple to Confucius, whose ideas on venerating elders have shaped Korean culture for centuries. But under the budding trees outside, the fumbling transactions of its elderly men and women tell the real story of Korean society in the 21st Century.

公園在孔廟附近，孔子尊老的思想幾個世紀以來塑造了韓國文化。但是，在這些青蔥翠綠的樹下，這些老年男女偷偷摸摸的交易是21世紀韓國社會的真實寫照。

Women in their 50s, 60, even their 70s, stand around the edges of the park, offering drinks to the men. Buy one, and it's the first step in a lonely journey that ends in a cheap motel nearby.

50歲、60歲、甚至70多歲的老年婦女站在公園邊上，向男人推銷酒水。買一瓶酒，接下來就是去附近廉價的汽車旅館過夜了。

The men in the park are more willing to talk to me than the women.

公園裏的男人更願意跟我而不是跟那些婦女交談。

Standing around a game of Korean chess, a group of grandfathers watch the match intently. About half the men here use the Bacchus Ladies, they say.

一羣老爺爺圍着一盤韓國象棋，專注地看着棋局。他們說，這裏一半的男人找過巴克斯酒女。

"We're men, so we're curious about women," says 60-year-old Mr Kim.

“我們是男人，所以我們對女人有好奇心，”60歲的金先生說。

"We have a drink, and slip a bit of money into their hands, and things happen!" he cackles. "Men like to have women around - whether they're old or not, sexually active or not. That's just male psychology."

“我們買點酒，然後塞點錢到她們手裏，接下來的事就順理成章了！”他咯咯笑着說。“男人都喜歡女人圍着自己，不管他們年紀多大，性慾強烈與否。這就是男人的心理。”

Another man, 81 years old, excitedly showed me his spending money for the day. "It's for drinking with my friends," he said. "We can find girlfriends here, too - from those women standing over there. They'll ask us to play with them. They say, 'Oh, I don't have any money,' and then they glue on to us. Sex with them costs 20,000 to 30,000 Won (￡11-17), but sometimes they'll give you a discount if they know you."

另一個81歲的老人興奮地和我說他有一天花錢找巴克斯酒女的事。“我是爲了和朋友們喝酒，”他說。“我們可以從站在那裏的女人裏找女朋友。他們要我和她們玩。她們說，‘哦，我沒錢，’然後她們就黏上來了。和她們上牀要花2-3萬韓元（人民幣122-183元），不過如果她們認識你，有時會給你打折。”

South Korea's grandparents are victims of their country's economic success.

老年人是韓國經濟成功發展的犧牲品。

As they worked to create Korea's economic miracle, they invested their savings in the next generation. In a Confucian society, successful children are the best form of pension.

他們在努力工作創造韓國經濟奇蹟的同時，將積蓄投資給了下一代。在儒學社會中，成功的子女是最好的養老保障。

But attitudes here have changed just as fast as living standards, and now many young people say they can't afford to support themselves and their parents in Korea's fast-paced, highly competitive society.

但是，隨着生活水平的快速提高，觀念也在迅速改變。現如今，很多韓國年輕人說，在這個快節奏、競爭激烈的社會裏，他們連自己都養不起，更別說養父母了。

The government, caught out by this rapid change, is scrambling to provide a welfare system that works. In the meantime, the men and women in Jongmyo Park have no savings, no realistic pension, and no family to rely on. They've become invisible - foreigners in their own land

政府在社會的快速轉變中暴露了短板，倉促間要提供一個行之有效的福利制度。與此同時，宗廟裏的老年男女沒有積蓄，沒有養老金，也沒有家人可以依靠。他們爲社會所忽視，就像生活在自己故土的外國人。

"Those who rely on their children are stupid," says Mr Kim. "Our generation was submissive to our parents. We respected them. The current generation is more educated and experienced, so they don't listen to us.

“那些依靠子女的人都是傻子，”金先生說。“我們這代人對父母唯命是從，我們尊敬他們。現在這一代人教育水平更高，經歷得也多，所以他們不聽我們的了。”

"I'm 60 years old and I don't have any money. I can't trust my children to help. They're in deep trouble because they have to start preparing for their old age. Almost all of the old folks here are in the same situation."

“我60歲了，也沒錢。我不指望孩子養我。他們還要爲自己年老準備，都自顧不暇了。這裏幾乎所有的老人都是這樣的情況。”

Most Bacchus women have only started selling sex later in life, as a result of this new kind of old-age poverty, according to Dr Lee Ho-Sun, who is perhaps the only researcher to have studied them in detail.

據李善皓（音譯）博士稱，因爲這種新型的老年貧困，大多數巴克斯酒女到老年纔開始賣淫，李博士可能是唯一一位詳細研究她們的學者。

One woman she interviewed first turned to prostitution at the age of 68. About 400 women work in the park, she says, all of whom will have been taught as children that respect and honour were worth more than anything.

她走訪的第一個婦女68歲開始賣淫。她說，大約有400名婦女在宗廟公園裏進行性交易，所有這些人從小就被教育尊敬和名譽比任何事都重要。

"One Bacchus woman said to me 'I'm hungry, I don't need respect, I don't need honour, I just want three meals a day," Lee says.

“一個巴克斯酒女跟我說，‘我餓，我不需要尊敬，不需要面子，我只想要一日三餐，’”李博士說。

Police, who routinely patrol the area but are rarely able to make an arrest, privately say this problem will never be solved by crackdowns, that senior citizens need an outlet for stress and sexual desire, and that policy needs to change.

警察會按時在這片巡邏，但是很少抓他們，他們自己也說這個問題不能通過強制來解決，老年人也需要釋放壓力和性慾的出口，這項政策需要改變。

But law-enforcement isn't the only problem.

但是執法不是唯一的問題。

Inside those bags the Bacchus Ladies carry is the source of a hidden epidemic: a special injection supposed to help older men achieve erections - delivered directly into the vein. Dr Lee confirms that the needles aren't disposed of afterwards, but used again - 10 or 20 times.

巴克斯酒女拎的包裏裝的是隱藏的傳染病原：一種可以幫老年人重振雄風的特殊藥劑，可直接注射到靜脈。李博士證實，這些針管使用後不會被處理，而是再繼續使用10到20次。

The results, she says, can be seen in one local survey, which found that almost 40% of the men tested had a sexually transmitted disease despite the fact that some of the most common diseases weren't included in the test. With most sex education classes aimed at teenagers, this has the makings of a real problem. Some local governments have now begun offering sex education clinics especially for seniors.

李博士說，在當地的一項調查裏可以發現，在接受測試的人，40%的男性染有性傳播疾病，一些在生活中常見的疾病並沒有納入測試中。大多數性教育課程主要針對青少年，老年人不在教育行列，由此產生這一現實問題。一些當地政府開始提供專爲老年人開設的性教育診所。

Hidden in a dingy warren of alleyways in central Seoul, is the place where these lonely journeys end - the narrow corridors of a "love motel" and one of the grey rooms which open off them.

隱藏在首爾中心城區昏暗而又狹窄擁擠的小巷裏的是這些寂寞旅程的終點站——“愛情旅館”的狹窄走廊和其中一個開着門的灰色房間。

Inside, a large bed takes up most of the space, its thin mattress and single pillow hardly inviting a long night's sleep. On the bed-head is a sticker: for room service press zero; for pornography press three; and if you want the electric blanket, you'll find the wire on the far side of the bed.

房間裏，一張大牀佔據了大部分空間，薄薄的牀墊和孤零零的枕頭伴人度過艱難的漫漫長夜。牀頭上貼着一張紙：客房服務按0，色情服務按3，電熱毯的電線在牀的另一邊。

So here you have food, sex, and even a little warmth all at the touch of a button. If only it were that simple outside the motel room, in South Korea's rich, hi-tech society.

所以在這裏，只要一個按鍵，就有食物、性，甚至些許溫暖。要是汽車旅館房間外面的韓國富裕、高科技的社會也是這樣簡單就好了。

But for the grandparents who built its fearsome economy, food is expensive, sex is cheap, and human warmth rarely available at any price.

但是對於那些爲如今冷漠無情的經濟做出貢獻的老年人來說，食物是昂貴的，性是廉價的，而人與人之間的溫情不論多少價錢也得不到。