Discover more regarding women-only host bars in Gangnam, Korea
South Korea's quick economic advancement has actually implied some stunning adjustments within its conventional social structure, including the increase of supposed host bars, where well-off women pay the matching of thousands of bucks for male company.
In the dim light of a basement, a lots completely brushed young men kneel in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with shiny boy-band hairdos, they cram side-by-side right into the slim space, awaiting us to make our choice. Outdoors in the passage, even more of their coworkers are arriving for one more night at the office. It is 2am, and also we are their very first consumers.
Hidden beneath the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 belong to a growing sector, which grew out of the long practices of Japanese geisha and Korea's kisaeng residences yet with one crucial distinction - the customers below are all females.
Referred to as "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption spaces provide female customers the opportunity to pick and also pay for male buddies, in some cases at a cost of hundreds of pounds a night.
One of the women I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing manager for a first-class resort. When or two times a month, she claims she comes to host bars.
The allure of host bars can be refined. Here, she says, she has more focus from her male buddies, more option as well as, crucially, even more control.
PROMOTION
" In regular bars the men who drink with me have just one objective - to have a casual sex. I don't want that, so that's why I come below, I desire to have enjoyable," she claims.
Hosts are worked with by bars such as this one to give companionship and also home entertainment. Formally that means pouring drinks for their clients, dancing and talking with them, and vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially available in the majority of host bars. That would certainly be prohibited yet also Minkyoung seems pleased to touch and also flirt with her host, and the men below approximate that around half the customers intend to pay for sex, either on or off the facilities.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a pair of years. In Korean culture, 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 analysis.
" The men right here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he states.
" After speaking to a girl for an hour we essentially know just how much cash she makes and also what she provides for a living. We've currently analysed her character and also what she's ready to give."
James as well as other hosts state their customers consist of some of South Korea's elite, and that the cash and also rewards on deal are amazing. One client James fulfilled, during his very first week in the work, asked him to sign himself over to her for 2 years.
" She said 'let's make a contract. I've obtained this paper and I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you list beside those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James says at the time he took it as a joke but since figured out the very same woman spent 60,000 ($ 97,000) on an additional host.
" If it happened now, I 'd do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Paradoxically maybe, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most established and, some claim, misogynist business practices - the space hair salon. These are private drinking rooms where teams of males pick, and are served by, appealing female people hosting.
It was the hostesses' need to allow off steam after job, says expert host Kim Dong-hee, that created the first demand for host bars, with all-male team.
" What these people hosting want is to [make us] do the exact same thing they needed to do in their own work environment. These ladies are required to do points they don't intend to provide for money.
" I assume a whole lot of them are in discomfort, and also a whole lot feel lonely. Simply put, they intend to buy our time and our bodies.".
People hosting still make up a large percent of the consumers at host bars right here, however at Bar 123, as an example, up to 40% of the clients on a provided evening are currently from other profession.
The reasons for that growing allure are bound in South Korea's quick financial surge. Within 50 years, the country moved from post-war destruction to OECD member.
Yet, 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 rapid growth comes quick change, and Koreans just don't know exactly how to handle it. Progressively, capitalism is surpassing basic social norms that you would anticipate a number of years ago.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's infamously lengthy functioning hours have actually left many Korean women really feeling lonesome, while the country's technical breakthrough has actually left many individuals feeling separated.
" The human aspect of Korean culture that existed previously merely doesn't exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, people are concentrated on their jobs, they aren't focused on human relations anymore.
" In several ways, Korean society today sort of advises me of 1960s society in the US, where it's on the edge of some sort of cultural transformation.".
The grandfather of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that numerous of the women who 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 outlets intended at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
Photo caption,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men wish to have visual pleasure as well as want to feel points, they're tactile. Ladies like to chat as well as to pay attention. Which's why I thought of opening a bar similar to this - a kind of discussion bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to standard host bars in one essential regard - there is a no-touching rule. Hosts remain on one side of the table, consumers on the various other, as well as no physical contact is enabled, and also definitely no sex.
Possibly as a result there is a lack of furtiveness amongst individuals that work or drink here - the lights are reduced, the decor generally dark red as well as the room is separated right into discreet booths, yet it is an open-plan room and also consumers as well as hosts are separated in each booth by a huge table.
This brand-new company design depends entirely on females paying the matching of hundreds and even thousands of bucks to talk to attractive young men over a drink. Still, it seems to be working - three new branches are due to open this year.
Sitting at a table at one end of the bar was just one of their regular consumers, a flower designer called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes here on a daily basis to fulfill her favourite host and discuss issues she is contending work.
The price for this piece of male attention is $487-650 ( 300-400) a day.
" Talking to friends would certainly be more affordable" she confesses, "but they do not pay attention as much. They're active, as well as in a hurry to discuss themselves. Here, people will certainly take notice of me and also they'll listen to me.".
" I invest a great deal of cash however it deserves it for what I get psychologically. Individuals pay to go to see a psychologist or psychiatrist, so it's similar but much less demanding.".
Nayu's much-loved host Sung-il says it can be difficult to keep his expert and also personal life different.
" Honestly Iwould certainly be lying if I claim I have not been attracted to take points additionally with some clients, due to the fact that we're human, we're guys, but there are rules.".
Among his clients spoke a whole lot to her husband about him as well as when the 3 of them satisfied, Sung-il as well as the other half ended up being buddies.
" No one conceals - the employees don't conceal that they work here, as well as customers can be open as well.".
This visibility is posing a new sort of obstacle to South Korean culture, different from the sometimes seedy underworld of traditional host bars and also their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing ladies a "reputable" way to challenge traditional gender functions as well as bend their financial power, these brand-new bars ask concerns of Korean culture that are ending up being tougher to overlook.
Hear the complete report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can pay attention using the Radio 4 web site or through the Crossing Continents podcast.
The attraction of host bars can be subtle. Here, she says, she has even more interest from her male companions, more selection and also, crucially, more control.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a pair of years. Rather, he informs me, it is all down to the host's very own analysis.
And also that's why I assumed of opening up a bar like this - a kind of discussion bar.".
In the dim light of a basement, a lots completely brushed young men kneel in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with shiny boy-band hairdos, they cram side-by-side right into the slim space, awaiting us to make our choice. Outdoors in the passage, even more of their coworkers are arriving for one more night at the office. It is 2am, and also we are their very first consumers.
Hidden beneath the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 belong to a growing sector, which grew out of the long practices of Japanese geisha and Korea's kisaeng residences yet with one crucial distinction - the customers below are all females.
Referred to as "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption spaces provide female customers the opportunity to pick and also pay for male buddies, in some cases at a cost of hundreds of pounds a night.
One of the women I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing manager for a first-class resort. When or two times a month, she claims she comes to host bars.
The allure of host bars can be refined. Here, she says, she has more focus from her male buddies, more option as well as, crucially, even more control.
PROMOTION
" In regular bars the men who drink with me have just one objective - to have a casual sex. I don't want that, so that's why I come below, I desire to have enjoyable," she claims.
Hosts are worked with by bars such as this one to give companionship and also home entertainment. Formally that means pouring drinks for their clients, dancing and talking with them, and vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially available in the majority of host bars. That would certainly be prohibited yet also Minkyoung seems pleased to touch and also flirt with her host, and the men below approximate that around half the customers intend to pay for sex, either on or off the facilities.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a pair of years. In Korean culture, 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 analysis.
" The men right here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he states.
" After speaking to a girl for an hour we essentially know just how much cash she makes and also what she provides for a living. We've currently analysed her character and also what she's ready to give."
James as well as other hosts state their customers consist of some of South Korea's elite, and that the cash and also rewards on deal are amazing. One client James fulfilled, during his very first week in the work, asked him to sign himself over to her for 2 years.
" She said 'let's make a contract. I've obtained this paper and I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you list beside those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James says at the time he took it as a joke but since figured out the very same woman spent 60,000 ($ 97,000) on an additional host.
" If it happened now, I 'd do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Paradoxically maybe, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most established and, some claim, misogynist business practices - the space hair salon. These are private drinking rooms where teams of males pick, and are served by, appealing female people hosting.
It was the hostesses' need to allow off steam after job, says expert host Kim Dong-hee, that created the first demand for host bars, with all-male team.
" What these people hosting want is to [make us] do the exact same thing they needed to do in their own work environment. These ladies are required to do points they don't intend to provide for money.
" I assume a whole lot of them are in discomfort, and also a whole lot feel lonely. Simply put, they intend to buy our time and our bodies.".
People hosting still make up a large percent of the consumers at host bars right here, however at Bar 123, as an example, up to 40% of the clients on a provided evening are currently from other profession.
The reasons for that growing allure are bound in South Korea's quick financial surge. Within 50 years, the country moved from post-war destruction to OECD member.
Yet, 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 rapid growth comes quick change, and Koreans just don't know exactly how to handle it. Progressively, capitalism is surpassing basic social norms that you would anticipate a number of years ago.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's infamously lengthy functioning hours have actually left many Korean women really feeling lonesome, while the country's technical breakthrough has actually left many individuals feeling separated.
" The human aspect of Korean culture that existed previously merely doesn't exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, people are concentrated on their jobs, they aren't focused on human relations anymore.
" In several ways, Korean society today sort of advises me of 1960s society in the US, where it's on the edge of some sort of cultural transformation.".
The grandfather of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that numerous of the women who 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 outlets intended at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
Photo caption,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men wish to have visual pleasure as well as want to feel points, they're tactile. Ladies like to chat as well as to pay attention. Which's why I thought of opening a bar similar to this - a kind of discussion bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to standard host bars in one essential regard - there is a no-touching rule. Hosts remain on one side of the table, consumers on the various other, as well as no physical contact is enabled, and also definitely no sex.
Possibly as a result there is a lack of furtiveness amongst individuals that work or drink here - the lights are reduced, the decor generally dark red as well as the room is separated right into discreet booths, yet it is an open-plan room and also consumers as well as hosts are separated in each booth by a huge table.
This brand-new company design depends entirely on females paying the matching of hundreds and even thousands of bucks to talk to attractive young men over a drink. Still, it seems to be working - three new branches are due to open this year.
Sitting at a table at one end of the bar was just one of their regular consumers, a flower designer called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes here on a daily basis to fulfill her favourite host and discuss issues she is contending work.
The price for this piece of male attention is $487-650 ( 300-400) a day.
" Talking to friends would certainly be more affordable" she confesses, "but they do not pay attention as much. They're active, as well as in a hurry to discuss themselves. Here, people will certainly take notice of me and also they'll listen to me.".
" I invest a great deal of cash however it deserves it for what I get psychologically. Individuals pay to go to see a psychologist or psychiatrist, so it's similar but much less demanding.".
Nayu's much-loved host Sung-il says it can be difficult to keep his expert and also personal life different.
" Honestly Iwould certainly be lying if I claim I have not been attracted to take points additionally with some clients, due to the fact that we're human, we're guys, but there are rules.".
Among his clients spoke a whole lot to her husband about him as well as when the 3 of them satisfied, Sung-il as well as the other half ended up being buddies.
" No one conceals - the employees don't conceal that they work here, as well as customers can be open as well.".
This visibility is posing a new sort of obstacle to South Korean culture, different from the sometimes seedy underworld of traditional host bars and also their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing ladies a "reputable" way to challenge traditional gender functions as well as bend their financial power, these brand-new bars ask concerns of Korean culture that are ending up being tougher to overlook.
Hear the complete report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can pay attention using the Radio 4 web site or through the Crossing Continents podcast.
The attraction of host bars can be subtle. Here, she says, she has even more interest from her male companions, more selection and also, crucially, more control.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a pair of years. Rather, he informs me, it is all down to the host's very own analysis.
And also that's why I assumed of opening up a bar like this - a kind of discussion bar.".
