DISCOVER OUT EVEN MORE ABOUT WOMEN-ONLY HOST BARS IN GANGNAM, KOREA
South Korea's rapid economic development has indicated some surprising modifications within its traditional social framework, including the surge of supposed host bars, where rich ladies pay the matching of thousands of dollars for male firm.
In the dim light of a basement, a dozen flawlessly groomed young males stoop in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with glossy boy-band hairstyles, they stuff side-by-side into the slim area, awaiting us to make our choice. Outdoors in the passage, even more of their associates are showing up for an additional night at the workplace. It is 2am, and we are their first clients.
Concealed underneath the pavements of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 belong to a growing industry, which grew out of the long traditions of Japanese geisha and Korea's kisaeng residences but with one crucial difference - the customers here are all females.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption rooms offer women customers the opportunity to pay and also choose for male friends, occasionally at a cost of hundreds of pounds an evening.
One of the females I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a five-star resort. Once or twice a month, she says she comes to host bars.
Minkyoung is very quite as well as her garments are immaculate. She does not look like somebody who would require to pay for male company. The attraction of host bars can be refined. Below, she states, she has more attention from her male friends, more option and, most importantly, even more control.
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" In normal bars the men who consume alcohol with me have only one goal - to have an one-night stand. But I do not want that, to make sure that's why I come right here, I wish to have a good time," she states.
Hosts are employed by bars like this one to supply companionship and also home entertainment. Formally that suggests pouring drinks for their consumers, chatting 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 yet even Minkyoung seems pleased to tease as well as touch with her host, and the guys below estimate that around half the consumers desire to pay for sex, either on or off the properties.
James has been operating at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean society, he claims, there is a whole lot of satisfaction and also working out a rate for sex is never done explicitly. Instead, he tells me, it is all down to the host's own evaluation.
" The people here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he states.
" After talking with a lady for a hr we essentially recognize just how much cash she makes as well as what she does for a living. We've currently analysed her character and also what she agrees to give."
James and also various other hosts say their consumers include several of South Korea's elite, as well as that the cash and also advantages available boggle the mind. One client James met, throughout his initial week in the job, asked him to authorize 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 jot down alongside those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke but considering that figured out the same female invested ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on an additional host.
" If it happened now, I would certainly do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Ironically probably, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most entrenched and, some say, misogynist company traditions - the room beauty parlor. These are personal alcohol consumption areas where teams of guys pick, and are offered by, eye-catching female hostesses.
It was the hostesses' need to allow off vapor after job, claims veteran host Kim Dong-hee, that created the preliminary demand for host bars, with all-male team.
These women are forced to do things they don't desire to do for money.
" I think a great deal of them are in discomfort, and also a lot really feel lonely. Basically, they desire to purchase our time as well as our bodies.".
Hostesses still comprise a big percentage of the customers at host bars right here, however at Bar 123, for example, as much as 40% of the consumers on a given night are currently from other strolls of life.
The reasons for that expanding charm are tied up in South Korea's fast financial increase. Within 50 years, the nation changed from post-war destruction to OECD member.
According to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something crucial was shed along the method.
" I believe that with all this rapid development comes rapid change, as well as Koreans just don't know just how to deal with it. Increasingly, commercialism is overtaking basic societal standards that you would certainly anticipate a pair of years back.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's notoriously lengthy working hours have left several Korean females feeling lonely, while the nation's technological advancement has actually left many individuals feeling removed.
" The human element of Korean culture that existed in the past merely does not exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, individuals are focused on their jobs, they aren't focused on human relations any longer.
" In several methods, Korean culture today type of reminds me of 1960s society in the US, where it's on the verge of some sort of cultural change.".
The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that a lot of the women that pertain to host bars are not spending for sex but also for friendship, which is why he opened a brand-new chain of freshly-marketed outlets targeted at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
Image caption,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men wish to have visual pleasure and want to really feel points, they're responsive. Females like to talk and to listen. And also that's why I assumed of opening up a bar such as this - a kind of discussion bar.".
Red Model Bars are various to conventional host bars in one essential respect - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts rest on one side of the table, consumers on the other, and no physical contact is permitted, and definitely no sex.
Perhaps because of this there is a lack of furtiveness amongst the individuals who function or drink below - the lights are low, the decor primarily dark red as well as the space is split into very discreet booths, but it is an open-plan space and clients as well as hosts are split in each booth by a big table.
This new organization model depends completely on women paying the equivalent of hundreds and even countless bucks to speak with good-looking young males over a drink. Still, it seems to be working - 3 new branches are because of open this year.
Resting at a table at one end of bench was among their routine customers, a florist called Kim Nayu. She informs me she comes here daily to satisfy her preferred host and review problems she is having at work.
The cost for this piece of male focus is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.
" Talking to friends would be more affordable" she confesses, "yet they don't listen as much. They're busy, as well as in a hurry to speak about themselves. Here, people will take notice of me as well as they'll pay attention to me.".
분당노래방
" I invest a great deal of cash yet it deserves it wherefore I obtain mentally. People pay to go to see a psycho therapist or psychoanalyst, so it's similar however much less stressful.".
Nayu's favorite host Sung-il claims it can be difficult to keep his specialist and individual life different.
" Honestly I would certainly be existing if I state I have not been attracted to take things additionally with some consumers, since we're human, we're guys, but there are policies.".
One of his consumers yapped to her other half regarding him and also when the 3 of them met, Sung-il as well as the spouse came to be buddies.
" No one conceals - the workers don't conceal that they work here, as well as clients can be open as well.".
This visibility is positioning a new type of obstacle to South Korean culture, different from the in some cases sleazy abyss of standard host bars and their hinterland of male prostitution.
By offering ladies a "reputable" way to challenge typical sex functions and bend their economic power, these brand-new bars ask inquiries of Korean society that are ending up being harder 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 appeal of host bars can be refined. Right here, she says, she has more focus from her male companions, more option as well as, most importantly, more control.
James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. Rather, he tells me, it is all down to the host's very own analysis.
And also that's why I thought of opening up a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".
In the dim light of a basement, a dozen flawlessly groomed young males stoop in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with glossy boy-band hairstyles, they stuff side-by-side into the slim area, awaiting us to make our choice. Outdoors in the passage, even more of their associates are showing up for an additional night at the workplace. It is 2am, and we are their first clients.
Concealed underneath the pavements of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 belong to a growing industry, which grew out of the long traditions of Japanese geisha and Korea's kisaeng residences but with one crucial difference - the customers here are all females.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption rooms offer women customers the opportunity to pay and also choose for male friends, occasionally at a cost of hundreds of pounds an evening.
One of the females I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a five-star resort. Once or twice a month, she says she comes to host bars.
Minkyoung is very quite as well as her garments are immaculate. She does not look like somebody who would require to pay for male company. The attraction of host bars can be refined. Below, she states, she has more attention from her male friends, more option and, most importantly, even more control.
AD
" In normal bars the men who consume alcohol with me have only one goal - to have an one-night stand. But I do not want that, to make sure that's why I come right here, I wish to have a good time," she states.
Hosts are employed by bars like this one to supply companionship and also home entertainment. Formally that suggests pouring drinks for their consumers, chatting 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 yet even Minkyoung seems pleased to tease as well as touch with her host, and the guys below estimate that around half the consumers desire to pay for sex, either on or off the properties.
James has been operating at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean society, he claims, there is a whole lot of satisfaction and also working out a rate for sex is never done explicitly. Instead, he tells me, it is all down to the host's own evaluation.
" The people here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he states.
" After talking with a lady for a hr we essentially recognize just how much cash she makes as well as what she does for a living. We've currently analysed her character and also what she agrees to give."
James and also various other hosts say their consumers include several of South Korea's elite, as well as that the cash and also advantages available boggle the mind. One client James met, throughout his initial week in the job, asked him to authorize 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 jot down alongside those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke but considering that figured out the same female invested ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on an additional host.
" If it happened now, I would certainly do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Ironically probably, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most entrenched and, some say, misogynist company traditions - the room beauty parlor. These are personal alcohol consumption areas where teams of guys pick, and are offered by, eye-catching female hostesses.
It was the hostesses' need to allow off vapor after job, claims veteran host Kim Dong-hee, that created the preliminary demand for host bars, with all-male team.
These women are forced to do things they don't desire to do for money.
" I think a great deal of them are in discomfort, and also a lot really feel lonely. Basically, they desire to purchase our time as well as our bodies.".
Hostesses still comprise a big percentage of the customers at host bars right here, however at Bar 123, for example, as much as 40% of the consumers on a given night are currently from other strolls of life.
The reasons for that expanding charm are tied up in South Korea's fast financial increase. Within 50 years, the nation changed from post-war destruction to OECD member.
According to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something crucial was shed along the method.
" I believe that with all this rapid development comes rapid change, as well as Koreans just don't know just how to deal with it. Increasingly, commercialism is overtaking basic societal standards that you would certainly anticipate a pair of years back.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's notoriously lengthy working hours have left several Korean females feeling lonely, while the nation's technological advancement has actually left many individuals feeling removed.
" The human element of Korean culture that existed in the past merely does not exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, individuals are focused on their jobs, they aren't focused on human relations any longer.
" In several methods, Korean culture today type of reminds me of 1960s society in the US, where it's on the verge of some sort of cultural change.".
The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that a lot of the women that pertain to host bars are not spending for sex but also for friendship, which is why he opened a brand-new chain of freshly-marketed outlets targeted at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
Image caption,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men wish to have visual pleasure and want to really feel points, they're responsive. Females like to talk and to listen. And also that's why I assumed of opening up a bar such as this - a kind of discussion bar.".
Red Model Bars are various to conventional host bars in one essential respect - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts rest on one side of the table, consumers on the other, and no physical contact is permitted, and definitely no sex.
Perhaps because of this there is a lack of furtiveness amongst the individuals who function or drink below - the lights are low, the decor primarily dark red as well as the space is split into very discreet booths, but it is an open-plan space and clients as well as hosts are split in each booth by a big table.
This new organization model depends completely on women paying the equivalent of hundreds and even countless bucks to speak with good-looking young males over a drink. Still, it seems to be working - 3 new branches are because of open this year.
Resting at a table at one end of bench was among their routine customers, a florist called Kim Nayu. She informs me she comes here daily to satisfy her preferred host and review problems she is having at work.
The cost for this piece of male focus is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.
" Talking to friends would be more affordable" she confesses, "yet they don't listen as much. They're busy, as well as in a hurry to speak about themselves. Here, people will take notice of me as well as they'll pay attention to me.".
분당노래방
" I invest a great deal of cash yet it deserves it wherefore I obtain mentally. People pay to go to see a psycho therapist or psychoanalyst, so it's similar however much less stressful.".
Nayu's favorite host Sung-il claims it can be difficult to keep his specialist and individual life different.
" Honestly I would certainly be existing if I state I have not been attracted to take things additionally with some consumers, since we're human, we're guys, but there are policies.".
One of his consumers yapped to her other half regarding him and also when the 3 of them met, Sung-il as well as the spouse came to be buddies.
" No one conceals - the workers don't conceal that they work here, as well as clients can be open as well.".
This visibility is positioning a new type of obstacle to South Korean culture, different from the in some cases sleazy abyss of standard host bars and their hinterland of male prostitution.
By offering ladies a "reputable" way to challenge typical sex functions and bend their economic power, these brand-new bars ask inquiries of Korean society that are ending up being harder 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 appeal of host bars can be refined. Right here, she says, she has more focus from her male companions, more option as well as, most importantly, more control.
James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. Rather, he tells me, it is all down to the host's very own analysis.
And also that's why I thought of opening up a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".