By Kim Jae-won

Half of Seoul residents are exposed to prostitution ads every day mainly through the Internet and smartphones, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday.

According to a survey conducted by the municipal government on 1,500 residents of the capital city in March and April, 47.7 percent of respondents said that they encountered advertisements about prostitution daily in cyberspace.

Thirty-two percent of the respondents said they see such ads two to three times a week through the Internet, followed by 14.4 percent of respondents who said they were exposed to the ads two to three times a month. The rest of the respondents said they hardly encounter prostitution ads.

Cho Hyun-ok, a senior officer of Seoul City, said that the survey shows how prostitution is deeply rooted in society.

"We need to take tougher measures to crack down on the illegal sex industry's promotional activities," Cho said.

The Special Anti-Prostitution Law became effective in 2004, but the practice of illegal sex trade is still very widespread in the country.

The exposure to offline sex trade is also as grave as those in cyberspace, according to the survey.

Thirty-five percent of respondents said that businesses engaged in the illegal sex trade were located within 30 minutes' walk from subway stations, movie theaters or restaurants that they regularly patronize.

Thirty-three percent of them said that they are within 30 minutes' walk from their residencies, followed by 31 percent who said that they can go to such places within half an hour from school zones.