Minors have accounted for one out of 10 prostitution cases, police said Tuesday, prompting calls for proper measures to discipline and protect youth.

According to the data collected by the National Police Agency,

1,184 adolescents aged 13-19 were caught for buying or selling sex in the first seven months of this year, accounting for 9.7 percent of the total of 12,212 offenders.

Among them, 908 teenage boys, or 76.6 percent, bought sex, while 198 teenage girls, or 16.7 percent, prostituted themselves.

Another 38 teenagers were caught for pimping, the data showed. 

The number of the youth arrested for sex-related offenses came to 15, or 1.3 percent, during the January-July period, according to the data.

"To solve the nagging problems, the government must strengthen its crackdown on the youth sex trade and devise measures to deter teenagers from running away from home," said Rep. Chun Hye-sook of the main opposition Democratic Party, who requested the data from the police.

Meanwhile, the number of teenagers involved in prostitution via Web sites declined steadily for the past four years, from 710 in

2007 to 414 in 2010, police said. The corresponding figure for the first seven months of this year was 212. (Yonhap News)