Jagalmadang is a red-light district

Red-light district

A red-light district is a part of an urban area where there is a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, adult theaters, etc...

 located in Daegu

Daegu

Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the...

, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

. Situated in the Dalseong-dong district of Daegu's Jung-gu

Jung-gu, Daegu

Jung-gu is a gu, or district, covering the downtown area of Daegu, South Korea. It borders most of the other districts of Daegu, including Nam-gu to the south, Seo-gu to the west, Buk-gu to the north, and Dong-gu and Suseong-gu to the east...

 district, it first emerged in the 1910s in the early period of Japanese rule

Korea under Japanese rule

Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....

. In the early 2000s, approximately 50 brothels were operating in Jagalmadang, employing some 270 prostitutes. However, following the passage of a special law against prostitution in 2004, many of these were forced to close.