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Locate out even more regarding women-only host bars in Gangnam, Korea
South Korea's quick economic advancement has suggested some stunning adjustments within its traditional social structure, consisting of the rise of so-called host bars, where well-off women pay the equivalent of countless bucks for male firm.

In the dark light of a below ground area, a dozen flawlessly groomed boys stoop in rows, calling out their names.

Muscular, with shiny boy-band hairstyles, they stuff side by side right into the narrow space, waiting on us to make our choice. Outside in the passage, more of their coworkers are arriving for an additional night at the workplace. It is 2am, and also we are their first consumers.

Concealed beneath the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the males at Bar 123 belong to a growing sector, which grew out of the lengthy customs of Japanese geisha and also Korea's kisaeng residences however with one important difference - the clients below are all women.

Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption areas supply women customers the possibility to choose as well as pay for male friends, often at a cost of thousands of pounds an evening.

One of the females I satisfy at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a luxury resort. When or two times a month, she states she comes to host bars.


The appeal of host bars can be refined. Below, she states, she has more attention from her male friends, more option as well as, crucially, more control.
PROMOTION



" In routine bars the people that consume alcohol with me have only one goal - to have an one-night stand. However I do not want that, so that's why I come here, I desire to have a good time," she says.

Hosts are hired by bars similar to this one to offer friendship and also enjoyment. Formally that implies pouring beverages for their customers, dancing and also chatting with them, and also singing karaoke.

Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not formally available in a lot of host bars. That would certainly be unlawful yet also Minkyoung appears pleased to flirt and also touch with her host, as well as the guys below approximate that around half the consumers want to pay for sex, either on or off the properties.

James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean society, he claims, there is a great deal of pride as well as bargaining a price for sex is never done clearly. Instead, he informs me, it is all down to the host's own assessment.

" The people below are pros - we recognize what we're doing," he states.

" After speaking with a woman for a hr we primarily recognize just how much cash she makes as well as what she does for a living. We've currently analysed her personality as well as what she's ready to provide."

James and also other hosts state their customers consist of some of South Korea's elite, as well as that the cash as well as advantages on offer are amazing. One customer James satisfied, during his first week in the task, asked him to authorize himself over to her for two years.

" She claimed 'let's make a contract. I've obtained this paper as well as I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you document alongside those numbers, I'll get you.'".

James says at the time he took it as a joke however given that figured out the very same woman spent ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on an additional host.

" If it happened now, I 'd do it - I would certainly be believing straight.".

Actually perhaps, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most entrenched and, some say, misogynist service customs - the space beauty parlor. These are private drinking spaces where groups of guys choose, and also are served by, appealing women hostesses.

It was the people hosting' demand to allow off steam after work, claims professional host Kim Dong-hee, that developed the initial need for host bars, with all-male staff.

" What these people hosting desire is to [make us] do the exact same thing they needed to do in their own workplace. These women are required to do points they do not wish to provide for cash.

" I assume a great deal of them are in pain, and a great deal feel lonely. Merely put, they want to purchase our time and also our bodies.".

Hostesses still compose a large portion of the customers at host bars here, yet at Bar 123, for instance, approximately 40% of the customers on a given evening are currently from various other profession.

The reasons for that growing allure are locked up in South Korea's fast financial increase. Within 50 years, the country moved from post-war destruction to OECD member.

But, according to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something essential was lost in the process.

" I assume that with all this quick development comes fast modification, as well as Koreans just don't recognize how to deal with it. Progressively, commercialism is overtaking basic societal standards that you would certainly expect a number of decades earlier.".

Jasper Kim states South Korea's infamously long functioning hours have actually left numerous Korean women feeling lonely, while the country's technical advancement has actually left many individuals really feeling detached.

" The human aspect of Korean culture that existed in the past simply doesn't exist today. Individuals are focused on innovation, people are focused on their work, they aren't concentrated on human connections anymore.

" In several ways, Korean society today kind of reminds me of 1960s culture in the US, where it's on the brink of some sort of cultural transformation.".

The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, agrees that a number of the ladies who involve host bars are not paying for sex however, for friendship, which is why he opened a new chain of freshly-marketed outlets targeted at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.

Red Model Bar hosts.
Image inscription,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men intend to have aesthetic enjoyment and also intend to feel things, they're tactile. Women like to chat as well as to listen. And also that's why I thought about opening a bar like this - a type of discussion bar.".

Red Model Bars are various to conventional host bars in one vital regard - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts remain on one side of the table, clients on the various other, as well as no physical contact is enabled, as well as definitely no sex.

Probably consequently there is a lack of furtiveness among the individuals that work or drink right here - the lights are reduced, the decoration mostly dark red as well as the space is divided right into discreet cubicles, yet it is an open-plan area as well as customers as well as hosts are split in each cubicle by a big table.

This brand-new organization design depends completely on women paying the matching of hundreds or perhaps hundreds of dollars to speak with fine-looking young males over a drink. Still, it seems to be working - 3 brand-new branches result from open this year.

Sitting at a table at one end of bench was one of their routine consumers, a florist called Kim Nayu. She informs me she comes below daily to satisfy her preferred host and also go over problems she is having at job.

The price for this piece of male interest is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.


" Talking to friends would certainly be less expensive" she admits, "yet they do not pay attention as much. They're active, as well as in a rush to discuss themselves. Here, people will certainly take note of me as well as they'll listen to me.".

" I spend a great deal of cash yet it's worth it for what I obtain psychologically. Individuals pay to head to see a psychologist or psychoanalyst, so it's comparable yet less difficult.".

Nayu's preferred host Sung-il states it can be tough to keep his expert and also personal life different.

" Honestly I would certainly be existing if I claim I haven't been attracted to take things even more with some customers, because we're human, we're guys, but there are rules.".

One of his consumers yapped to her partner about him and also when the 3 of them satisfied, Sung-il and the other half came to be buddies.

" No one hides - the workers do not conceal that they function here, as well as consumers can be open too.".

This openness is posturing a brand-new sort of difficulty to South Korean culture, different from the sometimes seedy abyss of typical host bars as well as their hinterland of male prostitution.

By offering women a "respectable" means to challenge standard sex roles and flex their financial power, these brand-new bars ask inquiries of Korean culture that are becoming tougher to neglect.

서현룸싸롱 Hear the complete report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can listen via the Radio 4 site or via the Crossing Continents podcast.


The allure of host bars can be refined. Right here, she states, she has more attention from her male friends, even more selection and also, most importantly, even more control.
James has actually been working at Bar 123 for a pair of years. Rather, he tells me, it is all down to the host's own evaluation.

And that's why I believed of opening up a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".

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