I didn't get the same reading from it that you did. The original research seemed to be "Why are these women doing sex tourism? ah netflix", then in this article, was used to point out the misogynist reaction that korean men had after being told these sex tourists with womanly characteristics were incredibly disappointed by them.

The combo of the two seems to be approaching this issue from the Korean perspective, and pointing out the fragility of the men because her research stirred up the shit pot(with her in it, so she had a personal connection).

I will admit the CNN article has a thick acceptance of sex tourism, but the linked author did not write that article, it just used her observations.