'Sold for dollars': South Korean women sue US military over decades-old abuse

In this file picture taken in Dongducheon on September 24, 2024, a general view shows a building slated for demolition that was once a "monkey house", a clinic for sex workers hired to serve US soldiers protecting Seoul from North Korea. (Photo by Anthony WALLACE / AFP)

More than 100 South Korean women forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said Tuesday.

Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea.