South Korea's quick economic advancement has implied some startling modifications within its traditional social structure, consisting of the surge of supposed host bars, where rich women pay the equivalent of countless bucks for male company.
In the dim light of a below ground room, a lots perfectly groomed boys stoop in rows, calling out their names.
Muscle, with shiny boy-band hairstyles, they pack side by side right into the narrow area, waiting for us to make our option. Outside in the passage, more of their associates are getting here for one more night at work. It is 2am, and we are their initial clients.
Hidden beneath the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postal code, Gangnam, the guys at Bar 123 become part of a growing market, which outgrew the lengthy practices of Japanese geisha and also Korea's kisaeng houses yet with one essential distinction - the consumers right here are all females.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption spaces use female clients the chance to pay as well as select for male companions, often at a price of hundreds of pounds a night.
One of the women I fulfill at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing manager for a five-star hotel. She states she pertains to host bars when or two times a month.
The attraction of host bars can be subtle. Here, she states, she has even more attention from her male buddies, more choice and, crucially, more control.
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" In normal bars the individuals that consume alcohol with me have just one objective - to have an one-night stand. However I do not desire that, to ensure that's why I come right here, I want to enjoy," she claims.
Hosts are hired by bars like this one to provide friendship and also home entertainment. Officially that suggests pouring drinks for their customers, chatting as well as dancing with them, and also vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially on deal in many host bars. That would be prohibited yet also Minkyoung seems satisfied to flirt and also touch with her host, and the males below estimate that around half the customers wish to spend for sex, either on or off the facilities.
James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a number of years. In Korean culture, he states, there is a whole lot of satisfaction and negotiating a cost for sex is never done clearly. Instead, he informs me, it is all to the host's very own evaluation.
" The men here are pros - we recognize what we're doing," he claims.
" After speaking to a girl for an hour we basically know just how much cash she makes as well as what she does for a living. We've currently evaluated her personality and what she's eager to provide."
James as well as other hosts say their clients include some of South Korea's elite, as well as that the cash and benefits on offer are amazing. One client James fulfilled, throughout his very first week in the job, asked him to authorize himself over to her for 2 years.
" She claimed 'let's make a contract. I've obtained this paper and also I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you document beside those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke yet given that discovered out the exact same lady spent ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on another host.
" If it took place now, I would certainly do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Paradoxically maybe, host bars expanded out of among Korea's most established and also, some say, misogynist service customs - the space hair salon. These are personal drinking spaces where groups of guys pick, and are offered by, attractive female hostesses.
It was the hostesses' demand to let off vapor after job, claims professional host Kim Dong-hee, that produced the initial need for host bars, with all-male staff.
These girls are forced to do points they don't desire to do for cash.
" I believe a great deal of them are in discomfort, as well as a whole lot really feel lonesome. 분당룸 Just put, they intend to get our time and also our bodies.".
People hosting still comprise a huge percentage of the consumers at host bars right here, but at Bar 123, as an example, up to 40% of the customers on an offered evening are currently from various other profession.
The factors for that expanding allure are bound in South Korea's rapid economic rise. Within 50 years, the nation shifted from post-war destruction to OECD participant.
But, according to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something essential was lost in the process.
" I believe that with all this fast growth comes quick modification, as well as Koreans simply don't know just how to cope with it. Significantly, commercialism is overtaking basic societal norms that you would expect a pair of decades ago.".
Jasper Kim states South Korea's notoriously lengthy functioning hrs have actually left many Korean females feeling lonely, while the country's technical advancement has left many individuals really feeling detached.
" The human component of Korean culture that existed before simply does not exist today. Individuals are focused on innovation, people are concentrated on their work, they aren't concentrated on human connections any longer.
" In lots of methods, Korean society today sort of reminds me of 1960s culture in the US, where it's on the brink of some kind of cultural revolution.".
The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, agrees that a number of the ladies who come to host bars are not spending for sex however, for friendship, which is why he opened a brand-new chain of freshly-marketed outlets focused on the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
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Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch customers.
" Men wish to have aesthetic satisfaction and wish to really feel things, they're responsive. Females like to chat and also to listen. As well as that's why I thought about opening up a bar similar to this - a kind of dialogue bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to typical host bars in one essential regard - there is a no-touching policy. Hosts rest on one side of the table, clients on the various other, and also no physical contact is enabled, as well as absolutely no sex.
Possibly consequently there is a lack of furtiveness amongst the individuals that function or consume alcohol here - the lights are reduced, the decoration generally dark red as well as the area is divided right into discreet booths, yet it is an open-plan area and clients and also hosts are split in each cubicle by a large table.
This brand-new company design depends totally on ladies paying the equivalent of hundreds or also thousands of bucks to talk with attractive young guys over a drink. Still, it appears to be working - 3 brand-new branches are due to open this year.
Resting at a table at one end of the bar was one of their regular clients, a flower shop called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes right here each day to meet her favourite host as well as talk about problems she is having at job.
The rate for this slice of male focus is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.
" Talking to buddies would certainly be less expensive" she confesses, "yet they don't listen as much. They're active, as well as in a hurry to chat about themselves. Right here, people will focus on me as well as they'll pay attention to me.".
" I spend a great deal of cash but it's worth it of what I get mentally. Individuals pay to visit see a psycho therapist or psychoanalyst, so it's comparable however much less demanding.".
Nayu's much-loved host Sung-il states it can be tough to maintain his professional and also personal life separate.
" Honestly I 'd be existing if I claim I have not been attracted to take things even more with some consumers, due to the fact that we're human, we're guys, but there are guidelines.".
One of his clients yapped to her spouse concerning him and also when the 3 of them met, Sung-il as well as the husband became buddies.
" No one hides - the employees don't hide that they function below, and consumers can be open too.".
This openness is presenting a brand-new type of obstacle to South Korean society, various from the often shabby underworld of typical host bars as well as their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing females a "decent" means to test typical gender functions and also flex their financial power, these new bars ask questions of Korean society that are becoming harder to disregard.
Listen to the complete record on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can pay attention using the Radio 4 internet site or through the Crossing Continents podcast.
The allure of host bars can be refined. Right here, she claims, she has even more attention from her male companions, more option as well as, most importantly, even more control.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a pair of years. Instead, he informs me, it is all down to the host's very own assessment.
And that's why I thought of opening up a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".