In the dark light of an underground space, a lots flawlessly groomed boys kneel in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with glossy boy-band hairstyles, they cram side-by-side into the narrow space, awaiting us to make our option. Outdoors in the passage, more of their associates are showing up for an additional evening at the workplace. It is 2am, and also we are their first clients.
Concealed beneath the pavements of Seoul's ritziest postcode, Gangnam, the men at Bar 123 become part of an expanding industry, which outgrew the long customs of Japanese geisha as well as Korea's kisaeng homes but with one crucial difference - the customers below are all ladies.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption areas supply female customers the possibility to pick and also pay for male buddies, sometimes at an expense of hundreds of extra pounds an evening.
Among the ladies I meet at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a luxury resort. She claims she concerns host bars when or two times a month.
Minkyoung is really pretty and also her clothing are spotless. She does not look like someone that would certainly need to spend for male company. However the attraction of host bars can be subtle. Right here, she says, she has more interest from her male companions, more selection and also, most importantly, even more control.
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" In regular bars the men that drink with me have just one objective - to have an one-night stand. However I don't want that, so that's why I come below, I intend to have a good time," she states.
Hosts are hired by bars similar to this one to supply friendship and also home entertainment. Officially that suggests pouring drinks for their consumers, speaking and also dancing with them, and vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially on offer in a lot of host bars. That would certainly be unlawful however even Minkyoung seems delighted to touch as well as tease with her host, and also the guys below approximate that around half the consumers wish to spend for sex, either on or off the facilities.
James has actually been operating at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean culture, he claims, there is a whole lot of pride and also negotiating a price for sex is never done explicitly. Instead, he tells me, it is all to the host's own analysis.
" The men below are pros - we understand what we're doing," he states.
" After chatting to a girl for an hour we generally understand just how much money she makes and also what she does for a living. We've currently evaluated her character as well as what she wants to give."
James and also various other hosts state their consumers include some of South Korea's elite, which the cash and advantages available are unbelievable. One customer James fulfilled, throughout his initial week in the job, asked him to authorize himself over to her for two years.
" She claimed 'let's make an agreement. I've got this paper and I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you jot down next to those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James says at the time he took it as a joke yet because found out the very same female spent 60,000 ($ 97,000) on one more host.
" If it took place currently, I 'd do it - Iwould certainly be believing straight.".
Paradoxically probably, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most established and, some claim, misogynist service customs - the area beauty parlor. These are exclusive drinking rooms where groups of males select, and are offered by, eye-catching female hostesses.
It was the hostesses' demand to let off vapor after work, says veteran host Kim Dong-hee, that developed the preliminary need for host bars, with all-male team.
These girls are compelled to do points they do not desire to do for cash.
" I think a great deal of them are in pain, as well as a lot feel lonely. Just placed, they intend to purchase our time and our bodies.".
Hostesses still make up a large percent of the customers at host bars right here, yet at Bar 123, for instance, as much as 40% of the customers on a provided evening are now from various other strolls of life.
The factors for that growing charm are bound in South Korea's rapid financial increase. Within 50 years, the country changed from post-war devastation to OECD participant.
However, according to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something important was shed in the process.
" I believe that with all this fast development comes fast modification, as well as Koreans simply don't recognize exactly how to deal with it. Progressively, industrialism is surpassing standard social standards that you would anticipate a pair of years ago.".
Jasper Kim states South Korea's notoriously long working hrs have left lots of Korean females feeling lonely, while the country's technical advance has actually left many individuals really feeling separated.
" The human aspect of Korean culture that existed in the past simply does not exist today. Individuals are concentrated on technology, individuals are concentrated on their tasks, they aren't concentrated on human relationships any longer.
" In several methods, Korean society today type of reminds me of 1960s society in the United States, where it's on the edge of some kind of cultural revolution.".
The grandfather of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, agrees that most of the females who involve host bars are not spending for sex yet for companionship, 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.
Picture caption,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men desire to have visual enjoyment and desire to really feel things, they're responsive. Women like to speak and to listen. As well as that's why I considered opening up a bar like this - a kind of dialogue bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to traditional host bars in one crucial regard - there is a no-touching rule. Hosts remain on one side of the table, consumers on the various other, and no physical call is permitted, and also absolutely no sex.
Maybe consequently there is an absence of furtiveness amongst individuals that function or consume alcohol below - the lights are reduced, the design mainly dark red and also the room is split into very discreet cubicles, yet it is an open-plan area and also hosts as well as customers are separated in each booth by a huge table.
This new organization model depends totally on ladies paying the equivalent of hundreds and even thousands of bucks to speak to fine-looking young guys over a drink. Still, it appears to be functioning - 3 brand-new branches are because of open this year.
Sitting at a table at one end of the bar was just one of their regular customers, a floral designer called Kim Nayu. She informs me she comes below every day to meet her favorite host as well as discuss problems she is having at job.
The cost for this piece of male attention is $487-650 ( 300-400) a day.
" Talking to pals would be more affordable" she admits, "however they do not pay attention as much. They're active, and also in a hurry to speak about themselves. Right here, individuals will take note of me as well as they'll pay attention to me.".
" I spend a whole lot of money however it deserves it wherefore I get psychologically. People pay to go to see a psychologist or psychiatrist, so it's comparable but less demanding.".
Nayu's much-loved host Sung-il claims it can be difficult to keep his expert as well as individual life separate.
" Honestly I 'd be existing if I claim I have not been tempted to take things additionally with some clients, since we're human, we're guys, yet there are policies.".
One of his clients talked a great deal to her partner about him and also when the three of them satisfied, Sung-il as well as the other half became buddies.
" No one hides - the employees don't conceal that they work below, and clients can be open as well.".
This openness is posturing a new kind of obstacle to South Korean culture, various from the occasionally seedy abyss of conventional host bars and their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing women a "decent" way to challenge typical sex functions as well as flex their economic power, these new bars ask questions of Korean culture that are coming to be more difficult to ignore.
Hear the full report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can listen by means of the Radio 4 web site or by means of the Crossing Continents podcast.
The allure of host bars can be refined. Here, she says, she has more focus from her male companions, even more selection and, crucially, 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 also that's why I believed of opening a bar like this - a kind of discussion bar.".
