Notes

Discover out even more about women-only host bars in Gangnam, Korea
South Korea's quick economic development has suggested some surprising adjustments within its conventional social structure, consisting of the surge of supposed host bars, where affluent women pay the equivalent of countless dollars for male company.

In the dark light of a below ground area, a lots completely brushed boys kneel in rows, calling out their names.

Muscle, with glossy boy-band hairdos, they cram side by side right into the slim space, waiting on us to make our option. Outdoors in the corridor, even more of their colleagues are arriving for another evening at job. It is 2am, and we are their initial clients.

Surprise under the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postal code, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 are component of a growing industry, which expanded out of the lengthy traditions of Japanese geisha and also Korea's kisaeng residences but with one essential difference - the consumers here are all females.

분당룸 Recognized as "host bars", these all-night drinking spaces offer women customers the possibility to pay and also select for male companions, occasionally at a price of thousands of pounds a night.

One of the females I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a five-star hotel. She states she concerns host bars as soon as or twice a month.


Minkyoung is extremely rather and her clothes are spotless. She does not look like somebody that would certainly require to spend for male business. But the allure of host bars can be subtle. Below, she says, she has more interest from her male friends, even more choice and also, most importantly, even more control.
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" In normal bars the people that consume with me have only one objective - to have a casual sex. I do not desire that, so that's why I come below, I desire to have fun," she claims.

Hosts are worked with by bars like this one to provide companionship and enjoyment. Officially that means pouring beverages for their customers, talking and dancing with them, and singing karaoke.

Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially available in the majority of host bars. That would be prohibited however even Minkyoung seems pleased to touch and also flirt with her host, and the males right here estimate that around half the customers desire to spend for sex, either on or off the facilities.

James has actually been operating at Bar 123 for a pair of years. In Korean culture, he says, there is a whole lot of satisfaction and also bargaining a price for sex is never ever done explicitly. Rather, he informs me, it is all down to the host's very own evaluation.

" The people below are pros - we understand what we're doing," he says.


" After chatting to a lady for a hr we primarily recognize exactly how much money she makes and what she provides for a living. We've already evaluated her personality as well as what she agrees to provide."

James as well as other hosts say their clients include some of South Korea's elite, which the cash as well as advantages on deal are astonishing. One customer James satisfied, throughout his first week in the work, asked him to authorize himself over to her for two years.

" She stated 'allow's make a contract. I've obtained this paper and also I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you jot down alongside those numbers, I'll get you.'".

James states at the time he took it as a joke however because located out the same woman invested ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on one more host.

" If it occurred currently, I would certainly do it - I would certainly be believing straight.".

Paradoxically possibly, host bars grew out of among Korea's most established and also, some say, misogynist business practices - the area salon. These are personal drinking rooms where teams of males pick, as well as are served by, eye-catching women people hosting.

It was the people hosting' requirement to allow off steam after work, states expert host Kim Dong-hee, that produced the preliminary need for host bars, with all-male staff.

These girls are required to do things they do not want to do for money.

" I assume a lot of them are in pain, and a whole lot feel lonesome. Put simply, they wish to get our time as well as our bodies.".

Hostesses still comprise a huge percent of the customers at host bars right here, but at Bar 123, as an example, approximately 40% of the clients on an offered night are now from various other profession.

The reasons for that expanding appeal are locked up in South Korea's fast economic increase. Within 50 years, the country changed from post-war devastation to OECD participant.

According to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something essential was lost along the means.

" I believe that with all this fast growth comes rapid adjustment, as well as Koreans simply don't know how to manage it. Increasingly, commercialism is surpassing standard societal standards that you would anticipate a number of years ago.".

Jasper Kim claims South Korea's infamously lengthy working hrs have actually left lots of Korean females feeling lonesome, while the country's technical development has left many individuals really feeling removed.

" The human component of Korean society that existed before simply does not exist today. People are focused on innovation, individuals are concentrated on their tasks, they aren't concentrated on human relationships any longer.

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

The grandfather of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that most of the females that pertain to host bars are not paying for sex but also for friendship, which is why he opened a brand-new chain of freshly-marketed electrical outlets aimed at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.

Red Model Bar hosts.
Image subtitle,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men intend to have aesthetic enjoyment and also intend to feel points, they're responsive. Women like to chat and also to listen. Which's why I thought about opening a bar similar to this - a sort of dialogue bar.".

Red Model Bars are various to standard host bars in one key respect - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts rest on one side of the table, customers on the other, and no physical contact is allowed, and absolutely no sex.

Possibly as an outcome there is a lack of furtiveness among the individuals that function or consume here - the lights are low, the design primarily dark red and also the space is separated right into discreet booths, yet it is an open-plan room and also consumers and also hosts are split in each booth by a huge table.

This new service design depends entirely on ladies paying the equivalent of hundreds or perhaps thousands of dollars to speak with attractive young males over a drink. Still, it appears to be working - three brand-new branches are because of open this year.

Resting at a table at one end of the bar was among their routine customers, a florist called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes here each day to fulfill her favorite host and also discuss problems she is contending job.

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

" Talking to good friends would certainly be less expensive" she confesses, "however they don't pay attention as much. They're hectic, as well as in a hurry to speak about themselves. Right here, people will certainly take note of me and they'll pay attention to me.".

" I spend a whole lot of money but it's worth it for what I get psychologically. Individuals pay to head to see a psychologist or psychoanalyst, so it's comparable yet less stressful.".

Nayu's much-loved host Sung-il says it can be tough to keep his individual and specialist life separate.

" Honestly I 'd be existing if I state I haven't been attracted to take points better with some consumers, due to the fact that we're human, we're males, however there are guidelines.".

Among his customers talked a lot to her partner concerning him and when the three of them satisfied, Sung-il as well as the hubby came to be close buddies.

" No one conceals - the employees don't hide that they function below, and also clients can be open as well.".

This openness is positioning a new sort of challenge to South Korean culture, various from the occasionally sleazy abyss of traditional host bars as well as their hinterland of male hooking.

By supplying ladies a "reputable" way to challenge conventional sex duties and also flex their economic power, these new bars ask questions of Korean society that are becoming more challenging to overlook.

Listen to the full report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can pay attention using the Radio 4 internet site or through the Crossing Continents podcast.


The appeal of host bars can be refined. Here, she states, she has more interest from her male friends, more choice as well as, most importantly, even more control.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. Rather, he informs me, it is all down to the host's own evaluation.

As well as that's why I assumed of opening a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".

Read More: https://www.bundangroom.club/