South Korea's quick financial growth has suggested some shocking adjustments within its conventional social framework, consisting of the rise of so-called host bars, where rich females pay the matching of hundreds of dollars for male firm.
In the dim light of a below ground area, a loads flawlessly brushed young men stoop in rows, calling out their names.
Muscular, with glossy boy-band hairdos, they pack alongside right into the narrow room, waiting on us to make our option. Outside in the corridor, even more of their colleagues are showing up for one more night at the office. It is 2am, as well as we are their very first consumers.
Covert under the sidewalks of Seoul's ritziest postal code, Gangnam, the guys at Bar 123 belong to an expanding sector, which grew out of the long practices of Japanese geisha and also Korea's kisaeng houses yet with one essential difference - the consumers here are all women.
Recognized as "host bars", these all-night drinking spaces supply female consumers the possibility to pay and also choose for male companions, often at a cost of hundreds of pounds an evening.
Among the ladies I fulfill at Bar 123 is Minkyoung, a waitressing supervisor for a five-star hotel. She states she pertains to host bars one or two times a month.
The allure of host bars can be subtle. Here, she claims, she has more attention from her male buddies, even more selection as well as, crucially, more control.
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" In normal bars the people who consume with me have just one objective - to have an one-night stand. However I do not want that, so that's why I come here, I intend to have a good time," she claims.
Hosts are worked with by bars such as this one to provide friendship and also entertainment. Officially that indicates putting drinks for their customers, dancing and talking with them, and also singing karaoke.
Host bar in Seoul
Sex is not officially on deal in most host bars. That would be prohibited yet also Minkyoung seems pleased to touch as well as flirt with her host, as well as the males here estimate that around half the consumers wish to spend for sex, either on or off the premises.
James has actually been operating at Bar 123 for a couple of years. In Korean society, he claims, there is a lot of satisfaction and working out a price for sex is never ever done clearly. Instead, he informs me, it is all down to the host's own assessment.
" The individuals right here are pros - we understand what we're doing," he says.
" After speaking to a woman for an hour we basically understand how much cash she makes and what she provides for a living. We've already evaluated her personality as well as what she agrees to give."
James and other hosts say their customers include several of South Korea's elite, and that the cash and advantages available boggle the mind. One customer James satisfied, during his very first week in the job, asked him to sign himself over to her for 2 years.
" She said 'allow's make a contract. I've obtained this paper and I've numbered it 1-5. Whatever you jot down following to those numbers, I'll get you.'".
James states at the time he took it as a joke but given that discovered the very same lady spent ₤ 60,000 ($ 97,000) on another host.
" If it occurred now, I would certainly do it - I 'd be assuming straight.".
Paradoxically possibly, host bars outgrew one of Korea's most established and also, some say, misogynist organization practices - the area beauty parlor. These are personal alcohol consumption areas where groups of guys choose, as well as are offered by, appealing women people hosting.
It was the hostesses' demand to let off heavy steam after job, states expert host Kim Dong-hee, that produced the initial demand for host bars, with all-male personnel.
These ladies are forced to do points they do not want to do for money.
" I think a great deal of them are in pain, and a great deal really feel lonely. Put simply, they wish to acquire our time as well as our bodies.".
People hosting still make up a large percent of the consumers at host bars right here, yet at Bar 123, for instance, as much as 40% of the clients on a provided night are currently from various other walks of life.
The factors for that expanding appeal are connected up in South Korea's quick financial surge. Within 50 years, the nation changed from post-war destruction to OECD member.
Yet, according to Jasper Kim, head of the Asia-Pacific Global Research Group in Seoul, something crucial was shed along the way.
" I think that with all this quick development comes rapid adjustment, and Koreans just don't understand just how to manage it. Increasingly, commercialism is surpassing basic societal standards that you would anticipate a couple of decades ago.".
Jasper Kim says South Korea's notoriously long working hours have actually left many Korean women feeling lonesome, while the country's technical advancement has left lots of individuals really feeling removed.
" The human component of Korean society that existed in the past just does not exist today. 분당노래방 Individuals are concentrated on technology, individuals are concentrated on their tasks, they aren't focused on human relationships any longer.
" In lots of means, Korean society today sort of advises me of 1960s society in the US, where it's on the verge of some kind of social change.".
The grandpa of Seoul's host bar scene, Kim Dong-hee, concurs that a lot of the women who pertain to host bars are not spending for sex but for friendship, which is why he opened up a new chain of freshly-marketed electrical outlets targeted at the mainstream market - called Red Model Bars.
Red Model Bar hosts.
Picture inscription,.
Hosts at Red Model Bars can not touch clients.
" Men wish to have visual satisfaction as well as desire to feel points, they're tactile. Ladies like to chat and to pay attention. Which's why I considered opening a bar similar to this - a sort of dialogue bar.".
Red Model Bars are various to standard host bars in one key respect - there is a no-touching guideline. Hosts rest on one side of the table, consumers on the various other, and no physical call is allowed, and also absolutely no sex.
Perhaps because of this there is a lack of furtiveness among individuals that work or consume below - the lights are low, the decor primarily dark red and also the room is divided into discreet cubicles, however it is an open-plan room as well as hosts as well as customers are split in each cubicle by a huge table.
This brand-new service model depends totally on women paying the matching of hundreds or even thousands of bucks to speak to good-looking young males over a beverage. Still, it seems to be functioning - 3 brand-new branches are because of open this year.
Resting at a table at one end of bench was one of their regular customers, a flower designer called Kim Nayu. She informs me she comes here on a daily basis to fulfill her favorite host and go over concerns she is contending job.
The rate for this piece of male focus is $487-650 (₤ 300-400) a day.
" Talking to pals would certainly be cheaper" she admits, "yet they do not listen as much. They're hectic, and quickly to speak about themselves. Right here, people will take notice of me and they'll listen to me.".
" I invest a whole lot of cash however it deserves it for what I obtain mentally. People pay to visit see a psychologist or psychiatrist, so it's similar yet less difficult.".
Nayu's favorite host Sung-il states it can be difficult to maintain his specialist and individual life separate.
" Honestly I 'd be lying if I say I have not been tempted to take points additionally with some clients, since we're human, we're men, but there are rules.".
One of his customers talked a great deal to her spouse regarding him and also when the 3 of them fulfilled, Sung-il and also the other half came to be close pals.
" No one hides - the workers do not hide that they function here, and clients can be open as well.".
This visibility is posing a brand-new type of difficulty to South Korean culture, various from the occasionally shabby abyss of traditional host bars and also their hinterland of male prostitution.
By using women a "respectable" means to test typical gender duties as well as flex their financial power, these new bars ask questions of Korean society that are ending up being tougher to overlook.
Listen to the full record on BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents. You can pay attention via the Radio 4 site or using the Crossing Continents podcast.
The allure of host bars can be subtle. Below, she says, she has more focus from her male companions, more selection and, most importantly, even 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 believed of opening up a bar like this - a kind of discussion bar.".