My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 64

Being a chief prosecutor wasn’t exactly a low rank, but it wasn’t high enough to jump into politics. This was a headache for Kim Geun-woo, who aspired to become a political prosecutor and eventually enter politics.

“But where did you hear this?”

Kim Geun-woo looked at his younger brother, Kim Geun-chan, who quietly lowered his voice. He trusted his brother, but he wasn’t naive enough to reveal everything.

He was actually planning to keep Park Do-joon’s information to himself, hoping to increase his own advantage.

“No, there’s a strange rumor going around. You know those online agencies that recruit entertainment workers? They say everyone who goes to that Pink Club or whatever ends up running away.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. What’s more, it’s always the same pattern. They get an advance and then run, get an advance and then run. If that’s the case, those Pink Club guys must be idiots, right?”

“I guess so.”

He didn’t know what went on at the Pink Club, but unless they were complete fools, they wouldn’t keep handing out advances only to be scammed.

“Hmm, so?”

“So, it’s strange.”

“It definitely doesn’t make sense. What kind of guys are they?”

Kim Geun-woo, as a prosecutor, was familiar with the underbelly of society. The idea of someone being repeatedly scammed out of advances seemed absurd.

‘That’s bullshit.’

“Those guys aren’t stupid. If they give an advance, they won’t just let them run away.”

Did they think they could just ask for an advance and walk away?

No way. They’d collect everything from their personal seal certificate [a stamp used for official signatures in Korea] to their family relationship certificate in preparation for any eventuality. If they ran away without fulfilling their obligations?

Then they’d barge into their house that very day, reveal that their daughter was prostituting herself, and demand repayment.

So, there were only two reasons why a woman would take the money and run: either she had completely severed ties with her family, or those documents were all forged.

Forging documents was a common practice among certain individuals.

“But they all go missing, and they’re not tracking them down, and they’re still giving advances? Isn’t that strange?”

Kim Geun-woo smirked. This was an opportunity. If he could get the media on his side, he’d have another chance to take the lead.

‘Besides, those police bastards need to be taught a lesson once in a while.’

Were the police and prosecutors on good terms?

No. They worked together, but they were also rivals.

This wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Their rivalry kept each other in check. This dynamic was even considered when the laws were initially drafted.

However, that theory often remained wishful thinking.

The prosecutors and police went beyond simply keeping each other in check. They started fabricating evidence to sabotage each other and burying each other’s legitimate cases.

At the same time, they were so focused on colluding to bury cases for the wealthy and powerful that the system descended into chaos.

‘Didn’t Prosecutor Kwon cause an accident a while ago?’

A few days prior, a chief prosecutor from a major faction had stirred up trouble. He fabricated evidence to frame the police, coercing a drug addict into falsely claiming he had bribed them.

They used this to create a scandal, claiming the police couldn’t be trusted. However, it later emerged that the drug addict had never given a bribe.

The drug addict had testified after being promised leniency, but Prosecutor Kwon had no intention of honoring his promise. He threw him in jail to boost his own performance. The resentful drug addict then sent letters to the detective, the police, and even the media, and held a press conference, leaving the prosecution in disarray.

‘Yeah, this is an opportunity.’

If he could capitalize on this, he could join the main faction. The thought of replacing that pathetic prosecutor flashed through Kim Geun-woo’s mind.

“Good. But how do you know where those women are?”

“Ah… I’ll find out.”

Kim Geun-chan nodded.

***

“I knew it.”

“You knew?”

“I thought there would be at least one righteous prosecutor to solve this problem.”

Park Do-joon said this while looking at Kim Geun-chan, but inwardly, he was thinking something entirely different.

‘Righteous my ass.’

Everyone knew about the strained relationship between the prosecution and the police, and Park Do-joon was aware that the police had recently been inadvertently undermining the prosecution.

‘In this situation, the prosecution will want to pin a major crime on the police no matter what.’

It was only natural that the prosecution would want to cover up the previous incident and turn the tables.

So, Park Do-joon had thrown out bait. By doing so, he could now handle things quietly without worrying about police interference.

“But many people will get hurt, right?”

Of course, the police would claim it was unfair. What they had covered up was prostitution, not human trafficking.

“Not my problem.”

Even though they were both police officers, Park Do-joon didn’t consider those corrupt officers to be his colleagues.

“But how are you going to find the victims? Honestly, that’s the problem…”

Detective Jo Sang-gyu said worriedly. It was understandable, as these kinds of incidents weren’t entirely uncommon.

He was a cop, but he had no intention of defending those who took bribes and acted recklessly. However, it wasn’t easy to pinpoint where the victims were being held.

“In this case, you have to think from the perspective of the perpetrator, not the victim.”

He would use profiling techniques.

‘Kidnapping, prostitution, and human trafficking.’

Analyzing the characteristics of these three crimes and applying them to the case.

That was Park Do-joon’s task.

“It’s probably not downtown.”

“Not downtown?”

“Yes, this is illegal prostitution. You know about the balloon effect of prostitution, right?”

“Um… I know.”

Kim Geun-chan nodded. The balloon effect meant that when you squeezed a balloon in one place, the air didn’t disappear but simply shifted to another. Similarly, when you cracked down on illegal activities, they didn’t vanish but spread and seeped into the surrounding areas.

The government had made several attempts to eradicate prostitution in Korea. But as a result, prostitution, once confined to red-light districts, had spread to the surrounding areas.

‘The funny thing is that it became a decisive reason for changing the nature of prostitution.’

Previously, there were many cases of kidnapping and forced prostitution. There was even a case where a gangster fled when a fire broke out while confining a kidnapped woman and forcing her into prostitution, resulting in the deaths of all the women.

But as prostitution spread, the situation changed.

Downtown areas were densely populated and heavily patrolled by police.

If they were locked up, they could open a window and shout for help.

Even if the windows were blocked, the soundproofing in large office buildings wasn’t very effective, so if they shouted loudly enough, people nearby could hear and report it.

“It’s probably in the suburbs. It wouldn’t be a regular house, and there wouldn’t be people living around, or it would be a neighborhood with such low legal and moral standards that they would ignore it.”

“That’s too broad, isn’t it?”

Detective Jo Sang-gyu frowned.

“Of course, it’s much better than blindly searching, but…”

First of all, a place with no people. Surprisingly, finding such a place was easy. On the outskirts of cities, there were often one or two empty buildings.

The other possibility was a place where the local residents were hostile to the police and had low morals. People might think that such places didn’t exist in Korea, but surprisingly, they often did. There were plenty of areas where local interests and a sense of impunity trumped public power or conscience, and local residents united for their own benefit.

Why did they sell trafficked women to remote islands? Because they knew the islanders wouldn’t report it. They even knew that the local police would turn a blind eye.

“It’s ambiguous.”

Reporter Kim Geun-chan also seemed troubled. He had promised to provide information to his brother, so he had to deliver.

But this kind of broad information had little value. It was better than nothing, but it was still too vague to produce concrete results.

“Profiling is just beginning.”

Park Do-joon smiled at their concerns.

“Profiling is about analyzing criminals and their behavior patterns.”

“I know, but?”

“Then, in this case, are the criminals involved really just the kidnappers?”

At Park Do-joon’s question, the two men looked puzzled. If the criminals were the kidnappers, who else could there be?

But the next moment, they exclaimed in realization.

“There are the sex buyers.”

“Ah!”

“Sex buyers!”

“Yes, that’s right. You can learn a lot by analyzing them.”

“But there must be more than one or two.”

Kim Geun-chan didn’t understand. If their numbers were small, it wouldn’t be profitable. Criminal organizations wouldn’t engage in unprofitable activities.

So, their numbers wouldn’t be small, but how could they profile them if they didn’t even know who they were?

“Statistics are more accurate when the group is larger. And the number of these sex buyers won’t be small, so it’s easier to identify their characteristics.”

Park Do-joon closed his eyes and organized his thoughts.

‘This is why I got so much flak [criticism].’

Profiling was a technique for understanding the minds of criminals. But in Korea, profiling had primarily focused on murder and violent crimes.

That was understandable, as those cases took priority. But Park Do-joon had argued that the scope should be expanded.

Fraudsters, thieves, robbers, assaulters… There were various types of criminals, and their numbers were vast.

If they just completed basic profiling, it would be helpful, but the higher-ups didn’t approve. That’s because the police’s authority would diminish as the scope of profiling grew.

They were both police, but the incompetence of one side would inevitably be exposed. The National Police Agency was reluctant to expand profiling for this reason. Efficiency could be increased, but the position of front-line police officers would be weakened.

‘Still, I’m glad I worked hard.’

Profiling sex buyers?

Other profilers would have laughed at him for wasting his time.

“First of all, they will have their own cars.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Yes, it’s obvious, but we still have to confirm it. Even one small oversight can cloud our judgment.”

“Umm…”

Kim Geun-chan nodded.

“And they are very likely to be people with some power or considerable wealth.”

Kim Geun-chan, confused, asked,

“Why all of a sudden? Are you judging based on resentment towards the wealthy or something?”

“Not at all. I’m talking about the upper limit of human pleasure.”

“I don’t understand what you mean.”

“Let me put it simply. On the internet, there’s a self-deprecating meme, right? That they just want to have sex.”

“Oh? That’s an internet meme, right?”

“It’s a meme. But at the same time, it reflects a fundamental desire.”

The desire to have sex.

More accurately, it’s an expression of the desire to find a stable partner.