The Constitutional Court ruled in a 6-3 vote Thursday that the law punishing voluntary prostitutes is constitutional.

In 2012, the Seoul Northern District Court brought the anti-prostitution law before the constitutional court, after a woman, who was indicted for having sex in exchange for money, asked that the matter be reviewed by the high court.

Under the law, prostitution is a crime that carries up to one year in prison or 3 million won in fines, with an exception that those who are forced into prostitution are spared punishment.

The lower court said in its petition that it is inappropriate for the state to criminally punish those involved in voluntary prostitution.

The Constitutional Court, however, said even voluntary prostitution could violate the prostitute's autonomy by commercializing human sexuality. 

Prostitution is violent and exploitative in its nature, thus it cannot be seen as a free transaction between the seller and the buyer, the high court said. 

The court also said the number of brothels and sex workers has been decreasing since prostitution has been criminally punished.

Prostitutes who are marginalized in the society should be given alternative ways to support themselves, it said. The court said acknowledging prostitution as legitimate labor is not the way to go.

Judges who were opposed to the law said prostitutes, even if they became sex workers voluntarily, should be protected and guided by the society, not criminally punished. They said it is social structural factors that push prostitutes to make a living by selling sex.

Since the sex trafficking law was first legislated in 2004, seven cases had been brought to the constitutional court by either people who purchased sex or those who ran prostitution businesses.

The court, in all seven cases, either dismissed the petition or ruled that the existing rules are constitutional. Thursday's ruling was the first of its kind filed by a sex worker. 

Related to the latest ruling, a finding released by local pollster Realmeter showed 43.2 percent of South Korean adults supported the move to abolish the anti-prostitution law, slightly edging out those who opposed it, which stood at 37.4 percent.

The survey was conducted on 538 people aged 19 years old or older and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. (Yonhap)