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We would like to address those cultural misconceptions created by The Chronicle's series on forced prostitution rings, highlighting the subjective, anecdotal account of a non-English speaking South Korean woman under the sensationalized headline of "Diary of a sex slave."

These front-page articles were unnecessarily "sexploitative" in their manner of coverage of a serious issue, and highly offensive to many people in the Korean-American community. The exaggerated headlines and lurid photos that dominated the front page of The Chronicle for four consecutive days gave disproportionate emphasis to a small immigrant segment of the overall Korean-American population in San Francisco and California, the vast majority of whom are well-educated professionals and hardworking families.

Recent events involving North Korea demonstrate that the Korean peninsula continues to play a strategic role in U.S. geopolitics, since its division in the early 1950s. At the same time, the history and culture of the two Koreas is greatly misunderstood by the majority of Americans. Credible publications should use their power to educate readers about issues of serious world import, not focus on prurient entertainment for the masses. For example, the historic appointment of South Korea's Ban Ki-moon on Oct. 13 as the new secretary-general of the United Nations merits extensive media coverage. This is the first time in 35 years that an Asian individual has been appointed to this influential post.

Instead of educating Chronicle readers about the cultural background of South Korea, the world's 10th largest economy, the "Diary" series dwells at length, and with questionable purpose, on the titillating details of one individual's forced sex acts and non-typical family history. The Chronicle series includes many cultural inaccuracies and paints a distorted picture of Busan, South Korea's second-largest city. Busan is an international coastal resort known for its open-air seafood -- not sex -- markets, and as host of the annual International Film Festival, the largest such event in Asia.

The "Diary" series' emphasis on sex and room salons also misleadingly portrays South Korean women's contemporary roles. In fact, women play a key role in diverse areas of South Korea's economy, and are encouraged to pursue higher education. Women officials occupy top posts in the South Korean Cabinet.

As a major newspaper, The Chronicle should be expected to maintain high standards of journalistic integrity, especially in topics impacting mainstream perceptions of a particular ethnic group. The Chronicle's series makes false, sweeping cultural assertions -- such as the outrageous claim that "many" Koreans support their families through prostitution -- and yet fails to interview any Korean Americans or obtain their community input. This one-sided, anecdotally based coverage did not meet journalistic standards of fair and responsible reporting.

Sex trafficking is a serious global problem in many societies, including the United States. Our Korean-American communities join in condemning the sex-trafficking offenses around the world. According to humantrafficking.org, sex trafficking is occurring in at least 19 countries around the world, including the United States. Given this global problem, it is misleading and highly inappropriate to single out one particular ethnic group as the subject of this article. By contrast, the contributions of mainstream Korean Americans to the larger community receive little or no coverage in The Chronicle. The work of local advocacy groups, in cooperation with enforcement authorities, to help trafficking victims deserves recognition, and should have been the articles' real focus, not pornographic details.

We request that The Chronicle issue a public apology to its readers and to the Bay Area Korean-American community for its imbalanced coverage, and racially offensive and exploitative handling of these issues.

AsianWeek

Center for Asian American Media

Global Children's Foundation

National Korean School Association

Korean Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco

Korean American Chamber of Commerce, San Francisco

Korean American Chamber of Commerce, East Bay

Korean American Church Association of Northern California

Korean American Coalition, National Office

Korean American Coalition, S.F./L.A. chapters

Korean American Family Service Center

Korean American Museum

Korean American Senior Citizen's Service

Korean American Association of San Francisco and the Greater Bay Area

Korean Center, Inc.

Korean Community Youth Center

Korean Cultural Center of San Francisco

Korean Health Education Information & Research Center

Korean School of San Mateo County

Korean School of San Francisco

Koreatown Organization Association

Korean Women's International Network

Korean Studies in Media Arts (KIMA)

Immedium

Intercultural Institute of California

International Council on Korean Studies

Onnuri Church (The Rev. Jong Ho Kim)

National Unification Advisory Council of Korea

San Francisco Korean Children's Choir

Silicon Valley Korean School

Silicon Valley Korean-American Alliance

Esra Jung, president, National Unification Advisory Council of Korea

Phillip Shinn, Thornton Taylor Becker & Shinn

Jin Suk Yang, mayor, City of Corte Madera,

Yung S. Lew Sr., vice president, Wells Fargo Bank

Eugene Sim, commissioner,

South San Francisco Planning Commission

Taeku Lee, professor, UC Berkeley, Department of Political Science

K. W. Lee, journalist

M.J. Lee, CEO, Maxfield, Inc.

Daniel Hwang, HCoVentures, Inc.

Grande Lum, CEO, Accordence, Inc.

Ted Fang, editor at large, AsianWeek

Soon Kyung Hong, honorary chairman, Korean Center, Inc.

Sandra McCandless, former chair, Korean American Chamber of Commerce of North Pacific Coast

Helene Kim is a San Francisco attorney. Jeong Shin is the executive director of the Korean Cultural Center of San Francisco. They are joined in this commentary by:

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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/24/EDG6PKE07C1.DTL