HANOI - VIETNAMESE police raided a high level prostitution ring in Ho Chi Minh City and detained 47 people, including the South Korean head of the business, state media said on Monday.

Police stormed the Superbowl entertainment centre near Tan Son Nhat airport and two nearby hotels in the early hours of Sunday, finding nine prostitutes in bed with their South Korean clients, Lao Dong newspaper reported.

Police arrested the 53-year-old South Korean leader of the ring together with scores of other workers and prostitutes, said the report.

Police in the southern business capital refused to comment.

In March, a 48-year-old South Korean citizen, Ko Ka Bok, was jailed for five years for running a Hanoi brothel that employed over 90 prostitutes.

In communist Vietnam, prostitution is widespread but illegal and is classified as a 'social evil.'-- AFP