In the dark light of a basement, a lots completely brushed young men stoop in rows, calling out their names.
Muscle, with glossy boy-band hairstyles, they cram side by side right into the slim room, awaiting us to make our selection. Outdoors in the passage, more of their coworkers are showing up for an additional night at the office. It is 2am, as well as we are their very first customers.
Concealed beneath the pavements of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the guys at Bar 123 become part of a growing industry, which outgrew the lengthy traditions of Japanese geisha and Korea's kisaeng homes but with one critical difference - the consumers right here are all females.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption areas provide women consumers the possibility to select and pay for male companions, sometimes at a cost of hundreds of extra pounds a night.
One of the ladies I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a five-star hotel. Once or twice a month, she says she comes to host bars.
The appeal of host bars can be refined. Below, she claims, she has even more focus from her male friends, even more option and also, crucially, more control.
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" In normal bars the guys who consume with me have only one objective - to have an one-night stand. However I don't want that, so that's why I come right here, I wish to enjoy," she claims.
Hosts are worked with by bars like this one to provide companionship as well as home entertainment. Formally that suggests putting beverages for their consumers, dancing and chatting with them, and vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially on deal in most host bars. That would be unlawful yet also Minkyoung seems delighted to touch as well as tease with her host, and also the males here estimate that around half the clients intend to spend for sex, either on or off the premises.
James has actually been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean culture, he claims, there is a whole lot of pride and discussing a cost for sex is never done clearly. Rather, he tells me, it is all to the host's own assessment.
" The people right here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he claims.
" After speaking to a lady for an hour we primarily recognize just how much money she makes and also what she does for a living. We've already evaluated her individuality and what she's willing to give."
James and also various other hosts state their customers include some of South Korea's elite, which the money as well as perks on deal are unbelievable. One client James fulfilled, throughout his first week in the job, asked him to authorize himself over to her for 2 years.
" She claimed 'allow's make a contract. I've obtained this piece of paper as well as I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you document next to those numbers, I'll obtain you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke yet given that discovered out the same lady invested 60,000 ($ 97,000) on another host.
" If it happened now, I 'd do it - I 'd be believing straight.".
Actually possibly, host bars outgrew among Korea's most entrenched as well as, some say, misogynist organization customs - the room beauty parlor. These are personal alcohol consumption rooms where teams of guys select, and are offered by, attractive women people hosting.
It was the people hosting' requirement to let off steam after job, claims veteran host Kim Dong-hee, that created the preliminary need for host bars, with all-male staff.
These ladies are required to do things they do not want to do for money.
" I think a whole lot of them are in pain, and also a lot really feel lonesome. Simply put, they desire to get our time and our bodies.".
People hosting still compose a large percentage of the customers at host bars right here, yet at Bar 123, for example, approximately 40% of the clients on a provided evening are now from other strolls of life.
The reasons for that growing appeal are locked up in South Korea's fast economic rise. Within 50 years, the nation shifted from post-war destruction to OECD member.
According to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something vital was shed along the means.
" I believe that with all this quick growth comes quick modification, and Koreans simply don't know exactly how to manage it. Increasingly, capitalism is overtaking standard societal standards that you would certainly anticipate a number of years ago.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's notoriously long working hrs have left many Korean females really feeling lonesome, while the nation's technological advance has actually left many individuals feeling detached.
" The human component of Korean culture that existed before merely does not exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, individuals are focused on their tasks, they aren't concentrated on human relations any longer.
" In lots of means, Korean society today type of advises me of 1960s culture in the US, where it's on the verge of some kind of cultural transformation.".
The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, agrees that a number of the ladies that come to host bars are not paying for sex but for friendship, which is why he opened up a brand-new chain of freshly-marketed outlets aimed at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
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Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men desire to have aesthetic enjoyment and intend to really feel points, they're tactile. Ladies like to talk and also to listen. Which's why I considered opening up a bar like this - a sort of discussion bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to typical host bars in one crucial respect - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts remain on one side of the table, customers on the various other, as well as no physical contact is enabled, and certainly no sex.
Possibly as an outcome there is a lack of furtiveness amongst the people who function or consume here - the lights are low, the decoration generally dark red as well as the area is divided into very discreet cubicles, however it is an open-plan space and also clients and hosts are split in each booth by a large table.
This brand-new service version depends totally on women paying the equivalent of hundreds or also hundreds of bucks to speak with good-looking young men over a drink. Still, it appears to be working - three brand-new branches are because of open this year.
Sitting at a table at one end of the bar was just one of their normal customers, a floral designer called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes below every day to fulfill her preferred host as well as discuss problems she is contending work.
The rate for this piece of male interest is $487-650 ( 300-400) a day.
" Talking to close friends would certainly be less costly" she admits, "but they do not listen as much. They're active, and in a hurry to chat regarding themselves. Below, people will certainly pay attention to me and also they'll listen to me.".
" I invest a whole lot of money however it's worth it for what I obtain emotionally. People pay to head to see a psycho therapist or psychiatrist, so it's comparable but less stressful.".
Nayu's favorite host Sung-il states it can be hard to maintain his professional and personal life separate.
" Honestly I 'd be lying if I state I have not been lured to take points additionally with some clients, because we're human, we're guys, however there are regulations.".
One of his consumers yapped to her partner regarding him and when the three of them satisfied, Sung-il and also the hubby became friends.
" No one hides - the workers don't hide that they work right here, as well as customers can be open also.".
This openness is posing a brand-new kind of difficulty to South Korean culture, different from the occasionally shabby underworld of typical host bars and their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing women a "commendable" method to test typical gender functions and also bend their financial power, these brand-new bars ask questions of Korean society that are coming to be more difficult to overlook.
Listen to the full report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can listen via the Radio 4 internet site or via the Crossing Continents podcast.
The attraction of host bars can be subtle. Here, she says, she has even more attention from her male companions, more selection as well as, most importantly, more control.
James has been working at Bar 123 for a pair of years. Instead, he informs me, it is all down to the host's own assessment.
As well as that's why I assumed of opening a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".
