South Korea's quick financial growth has implied some surprising changes within its traditional social framework, including the increase of so-called host bars, where affluent ladies pay the equivalent of hundreds of bucks for male firm.
In the dim light of a below ground space, a lots completely groomed boys kneel in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with shiny boy-band hairdos, they cram side by side right into the slim area, awaiting us to make our option. Outside in the corridor, more of their associates are getting here for an additional night at the workplace. It is 2am, as well as we are their very first clients.
Surprise below the pavements of Seoul's ritziest postal code, Gangnam, the guys at Bar 123 become part of an expanding sector, which outgrew the long customs of Japanese geisha and also Korea's kisaeng homes yet with one vital difference - the clients right here are all women.
Called "host bars", these all-night alcohol consumption rooms supply female customers the possibility to pick as well as pay for male friends, occasionally at a price of hundreds of pounds an evening.
One of the females I satisfy at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing manager for a five-star resort. When or two times a month, she says she comes to host bars.
The attraction of host bars can be refined. Right here, she claims, she has even more attention from her male buddies, more choice as well as, most importantly, even more control.
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" In regular bars the people 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 below, I wish to enjoy," she says.
Hosts are hired by bars like this one to give friendship as well as home entertainment. Officially that means pouring beverages for their consumers, dancing and also talking with them, as well as vocal singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially on offer in a lot of host bars. 분당룸 That would be prohibited but even Minkyoung appears pleased to tease and also touch with her host, and also the men below approximate that around half the consumers want to spend for sex, either on or off the properties.
James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a number of years. In Korean culture, he claims, there is a lot of satisfaction and negotiating a cost for sex is never done explicitly. Instead, he tells me, it is all to the host's own analysis.
" The guys below are pros - we recognize what we're doing," he says.
" After speaking to a woman for an hour we essentially understand just how much cash she makes and what she provides for a living. We've currently evaluated her individuality as well as what she wants to offer."
James as well as various other hosts state their clients consist of some of South Korea's elite, which the cash and also rewards available boggle the mind. One customer James met, throughout his very first week in the work, asked him to sign himself over to her for 2 years.
" She said 'let's make an agreement. I've obtained this paper and also I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you create down alongside those numbers, I'll obtain you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke yet given that figured out the same lady invested ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on another host.
" If it took place now, I 'd do it - I would certainly be assuming straight.".
Ironically probably, host bars outgrew among Korea's most entrenched and also, some claim, misogynist company practices - the room hair salon. These are exclusive alcohol consumption areas where teams of guys pick, and also are served by, eye-catching women people hosting.
It was the hostesses' need to allow off heavy steam after work, claims expert host Kim Dong-hee, that developed the first demand for host bars, with all-male team.
These women are required to do points they don't want to do for cash.
" I believe a great deal of them are in discomfort, and also a great deal really feel lonesome. Basically, they wish to buy our time as well as our bodies.".
Hostesses still comprise a big portion of the customers at host bars below, but at Bar 123, for example, as much as 40% of the clients on a provided evening are currently from various other profession.
The reasons for that growing appeal are bound in South Korea's fast financial rise. Within 50 years, the nation shifted from post-war devastation to OECD member.
But, according to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something vital was shed in the process.
" I assume that with all this quick growth comes quick change, and also Koreans just don't know just how to manage it. Increasingly, capitalism is surpassing basic social standards that you would certainly anticipate a number of decades earlier.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's infamously lengthy functioning hours have left lots of Korean females really feeling lonely, while the nation's technological advancement has actually left lots of people really feeling detached.
" The human element of Korean society that existed before simply doesn't exist today. Individuals are concentrated on innovation, individuals are concentrated on their work, they aren't concentrated on human relationships any longer.
" In many methods, Korean culture today type of advises me of 1960s culture in the US, where it's on the brink of some type of social revolution.".
The grandfather of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that a number of the women who pertain 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 targeted 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 intend to have aesthetic satisfaction as well as want to really feel points, they're tactile. Ladies like to talk and also to listen. And that's why I considered opening up a bar like this - a sort of dialogue bar.".
Red Model Bars are different to traditional host bars in one key regard - there is a no-touching regulation. Hosts rest on one side of the table, consumers on the various other, and no physical call is enabled, and also definitely no sex.
Possibly because of this there is a lack of furtiveness amongst the individuals who function or consume here - the lights are reduced, the design primarily dark red and also the space is split into very discreet cubicles, however it is an open-plan area as well as clients as well as hosts are split in each booth by a huge table.
This new service design depends entirely on females paying the matching of hundreds or even hundreds of dollars to talk with fine-looking young males over a beverage. Still, it appears to be functioning - three new branches are due to open this year.
Resting at a table at one end of bench was one of their regular customers, a floral designer called Kim Nayu. She tells me she comes below daily to fulfill her favorite host and also review issues she is having at work.
The price for this slice of male interest is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.
" Talking to friends would be cheaper" she confesses, "but they do not listen as much. They're active, as well as in a rush to speak about themselves. Here, individuals will take note of me and also they'll pay attention to me.".
" I spend a lot of cash but it deserves it for what I get psychologically. Individuals pay to visit see a psychologist or psychiatrist, so it's comparable yet much less stressful.".
Nayu's preferred host Sung-il says it can be hard to maintain his personal and also professional life different.
" Honestly I would certainly be lying if I claim I have not been tempted to take points even more with some consumers, due to the fact that we're human, we're guys, however there are regulations.".
One of his clients spoke a lot to her other half concerning him and also when the 3 of them satisfied, Sung-il as well as the husband ended up being buddies.
" No one conceals - the workers do not hide that they work below, and customers can be open too.".
This visibility is posing a new kind of challenge to South Korean society, various from the occasionally seedy underworld of typical host bars and their hinterland of male hooking.
By providing females a "respectable" method to test conventional sex duties and flex their economic power, these new bars ask concerns of Korean society that are coming to be tougher to ignore.
Listen to the full report on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can listen via the Radio 4 site or via the Crossing Continents podcast.
The allure of host bars can be subtle. Right here, she says, she has more interest from her male buddies, even more choice and, most importantly, more control.
James has been functioning at Bar 123 for a couple of years. Instead, he informs me, it is all down to the host's own analysis.
As well as that's why I believed of opening a bar like this - a kind of discussion bar.".