Two Thai transgender men who were staying in South Korea illegally and earning hundreds of millions of won through prostitution have been referred to the prosecution.

The Immigration Special Investigation Unit of the Seoul Immigration Office under the Ministry of Justice announced that it had arrested and referred the two Thai nationals, identified as A and B, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office in late April and mid-June, respectively, on charges of violating the Immigration Control Act.

The two are accused of earning approximately 200 million won and 400 million won each by engaging in prostitution in cities including Seoul and Busan from January 2024 to June 2026, charging between 100,000 won and 210,000 won per session.

Having entered the country in 2023 and remaining as illegal overstayers for more than three years, they recruited clients by posting advertisements detailing their physical attributes on websites for sexual minorities or by uploading self-recorded videos of sexual acts to their social media accounts.

They also attempted to evade police crackdowns by verifying the arrival of clients near their studio apartments through photos before providing them with the exact room numbers.

The Immigration Special Investigation Unit is currently monitoring social media and adult websites, suspecting that there may be other foreign nationals engaged in similar illegal prostitution activities.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News