The Herald Business News (Korean) goes to the scene to report on a disturbing trend at the clubs in front of Hongik University, namely, an increasing number of foreign men and Korean women flocking to the area for one night stands. Personally, I don’t hang out there, ergo I know nothing about it other than what I read in the papers. When I read one foreign English teacher comment that the Hongik area is the “only place in Korea” where “we” (i.e., my [usually] melanin deficient brothers) can meet chicks, however, I shudder to imagine what I might find there. Anyway, I’ve translated the piece below for your reading enjoyment. So enjoy.
Sphere: Related ContentThe number of foreigners walking up and down in front of Hongik University is increasing. Clubs with foreign DJs are enjoying a boom, and there are more and more Korean women visiting these and particular clubs for “booking” (for definition of “booking,” see here and here). The clubs in front of the Hongik University, known as the birthplace of Korea’s indie culture, are transforming in a foreigner’s “paradise for hunting women.”
As recently as the 2002 incident in which two middle school girls were killed by a U.S. military vehicle, the clubs in front of Hongik University were known as a “no-entry” area for U.S. soldiers. Foreign English teachers and foreign business folk like those who worked for financial firms in Yeouido were also banned from entry. An official with the Hongik University Club Federation said, “I remember the ban on U.S. soldiers as a measure taken out of consideration for public sentiment when the soldiers were found not guilty [in the 2002 armored vehicle incident]… The initial goal was to try to stop unfortunate incidents caused by U.S. soldiers from occuring.”
Afterwards, the flow of foreigners to the Hongik area stopped. Local residents openly complained that the Hongik area had been ruined “because of the U.S. soldiers and foreigners,” and club officials thoroughly put an end to the improper foreign club culture. The situation has changed, however. In 2003, the Hongik clubs began hiring foreign DJs and bands, and foreigners once again began heading to the area.
On official with one club in the area said, “It appears that as Korean women thinking of marrying foreigners and women who studied abroad flock to Hongik area, the number of foreigners is also increasing… We started performances by foreign bands in order to give the place a foreign atmosphere without having to go abroad.”
The reason why these women flock to the place, which seemed to have developed a healthy foreigner culture as foreigners became the norm there, is because the number of foreigners “who want to meet ‘real Koreans’” has increased. Ms. Lee, a 30-year-old who studied abroad, said, “Hongik has now become a ‘meeting place’ to meet with foreigners, with the number of younger women dating foreigners on the rise… There are also countless women coming to the area to engage in booking with foreign men.”
Hongdae is now an area hot with youthful passion that has degenerated from being mixed up with foreigners. As the recent act of indecent exposure by a punk band on live TV showed, the diversity and individuality of the area in front of Hongik University is nowhere to be found. As the number of foreigners with more of an interest in booking and one night stands than in the music increases, there are many women coming to the clubs in search of “blue-eyed men.”
The foreign men and Korean women enjoy heading to Picasso Street and “M” and “A” clubs. One foreign English teacher working in Gangnam said, “The area in front of Hongik University is the only place in Korea where we can meet girlfriends… There’s a general trend for Korean women to come up to you to talk, even if you’re just sitting in a club.”
41 Comments
It’s developed “a healthy foreigner culture?” What could be healthy about interacting with foreigners? Run, ladies, run! And where’s Picasso Street? I’m just, uh, curious.
They make it sound so seedy and unpleasant, I can’t imagine reading an article in a U.S. newspaper depicting interracial relationships in such a fashion. “White women flock to Black Hip-Hop clubs in Search of Sex”, imagine the outcry? Then again I used to go to Hongdae 4 nights a week during my party-boy days
“the number of foreigners ??who want to meet ??real Koreans????? has increased. Ms. Lee, a 30-year-old who studied abroad, said”
Hmm. I’m not entirely sure meet is the right verb.
‘can you imagine a us paper doing this?…imagine the outcry.’ krz, guy who likes to joke about women being raped
the outcry would be coming from black folk. nothing stopping you from doing the same.
‘used to go to hongdae 4 nights a week.’ krz
did you rape any ladies? ???!???! of course, that was a joke.
krz stated: ‘japanese and koreans share genetic links because of the massive rapes japan unleashed on korea.’
nulji advises: never joke about rape, krz.
Hmm. My Magic 8 Ball says that Marmot’s comment section will be devoid of comments for the next few days. Have fun at Hongik!
did you rape any ladies? ???!???! of course, that was a joke.
How do you rape a whore? Isn’t that just stealing.
And all of this AFTER the English Spectrum affair last year that was warn young girls of what English teachers are really after. I always said that scandal was the best thing that could of happened for those in search of the one-nighter. ‘Hell’ is a lot more interesting than ‘Heaven’.
That said, this stuff depresses me at the moment as my (Korean) girlfriend’s parents and friends–every single one of them–are disgusted that she dates me, a foreigner. So it strikes me that the only ones that lose in these kinds of xenophobic reports are the legitimate relationships.
I’ve written a letter of protest to this irresponsible “reporter”, cc’ed to various figures on the herald.m masthead. It is time to call Koreans on their blatant race-baiting.
aletheia, your girlfriend’s parents maybe disgusted now, but if you show them you can be a good partner to their daughter (and your partner thinks your relationship is worth fighting for), they can and do change their minds given time. I honestly believe that’s the rule, not the exception. The only way to break down xenophobia is to meet it. Good luck.
I second what kimbob said at 9.
In Korea, a son-in-law has to be a major goof-up for parents to not learn to like him eventually.
Have a baby! Nothing like a grandchild that can change minds. Who can say no to a darling baby?
By producing an interracial baby you will be freeing Koreans from their idiotic belief of “unique” people in the world. Koreans are mixture of Chinese, Mongolian and Japanese. ???????? ?????.
As the recent act of indecent exposure by a punk band on live TV showed, the diversity and individuality of the area in front of Hongik University is nowhere to be found.
Where would this kind of ‘journalism’ be without the non sequitur?
These kinds of articles end up being advertisements for the places they intend to condemn.
I??ve written a letter of protest to this irresponsible ??reporter??, cc??ed to various figures on the herald.m masthead. It is time to call Koreans on their blatant race-baiting. I was thinking much the same thing.
Is there a pattern of certain reporters or certain papers that started and/or ran with the English Spectrum fiasco and this?
And about sons-in-laws, parents in Korea, initially at least, are looking for reasons to come down on their prospective son- or daughter-in-law. For some, phenotype or lack of Korean ability (especially the latter) provides a big reason, but if it weren’t that, then they’d be bagging on something else.
Not that that makes it okay to complain about their child dating a “foreigner.” It’s going to take some time for Korea to catch up with the enlightenedness of North America on inter-racial unions. Even longer if it wants to be like Europe.
Condemn? None of your bee’s wax.
Well the bee’s wax is on the other foot now isn’t it baduk? If wishes were horses beggars would knock on wood.
Let’s see: it used to be Itaewon; now its Hongik. What’s the difference? Oh, I get it: the Hongik girls aren’t collecting any foreign exchange for the motherland. It’s not that they’re fucking the foreigners; they’re doing it for free.
Yes JTB, Nulji, Baduk and I are the same person.
I really do not understand the expressions of outrage in this country just because some highly visible women prefer white guys. It is almost inevitable that people raised in a culture that itself fetishisizes whiteness (which a glance at Korean magazine advertisements and television commercials can easily confirm) and which is also heavily influenced by US TV and movies which still do the same will come to prefer white partners. More worrisome to me is that this comes with a denial of “asianness” and contempt and discrimination towards darker skinned people and those from “backwards” Asian countries. I’m fine with white people appearing in Korean advertisements, for example, it just weirds me out though, that white people are the only foreigners permitted to appear in them. It’s as if the rest of the world does not exist, and as if Korea is ashamed and in denial of being an Asian nation. I guess I just want to say that white and northeast asian are not the only ethnicities; what’s not been mentioned in these discussions - Koreans’ reluctance to even acknowledge the existence of anything but Korean and white, is as important as the stated and open preference of many Koreans for whites.
This kind of simple minded article completely misses the point and just casts blame on convenient and easy targets: women and foreigners.
Wow, on re-reading that hatchet job it’s quite an impressive bit of what used to be called “yellow journalism” (but that might be taken the wrong way today, huh?). Is this the Herald Business News’ idea of a “lifestyle feature”? Tsk tsk, so immature.
i think real issue here is some people have hard time accepting the change (or getting liberal) of sexual behavior of youger generation of korean girls.
a korean co-worker of mine of late 30’s once proudly told me his wife brought a virgin cirtificate when they married. adding it was common practice for the conservative upper class family then(about 7years ago) i dont know if it was true or not but he seemed serious.
Interracial unions are just barely tolerated in the U.S.–I was in one, and people said a lot of shit to us. JYC is right, look at the personals in the L.A. Weekly or the Voice, and race is fetishized in a lot of the ads. It’s the forbidden fruit thing, although we should always take a hard look at who is doing the forbidding, and what their motives are. That said, outside of these retarded media stories, I haven’t experienced any friction here (Seoul) from being in an interracial marriage, and the in-laws are great too. It’s only anecdotal I know, but I think the antipathy to these kinds of relationships in Korea is exagerrated. Aside from comprising a fraction of the population, consider that many Korean men, because of the gender imbalance here, especially in rural areas, are marrying non-Koreans. The society is changing, and fast.
I was thinking much the same thing.
Is there a pattern of certain reporters or certain papers that started and/or ran with the English Spectrum fiasco and this?
Thank you, Kushibo, for your support.
If this “article” had been published on Ohmynews or the like, it would be easy to dismiss. But Herald Media (or whatever it’s corporate name is) is a legitimate and large-scale publisher.
As it happens, I did write a letter to the journalist, cc’ed to some of Herald Media’s editors. Our friend Shakuhachi has been kind enough to reprint it on his fine blog, which unfortunately is not linked on Marmot’s.
Years ago, not sure if it was before or after I graduated from college, there was a Korea Herald English contest (though it might have been the Korea Times), and the winning article was titled something like, “Mixed Marriages — the Wrong Mix.” The young woman who presented it talked about problems faced by children of mixed marriages and the prejudice they face, but her conclusion was not greater acceptance but just that parents not create mixed children in the first place (I’m saying it a bit more harshly than she did).
This was pre-Internet culture, but there was a shitstorm nonetheless. To their credit, the newspaper did print a lot of the angry letters they got. Eventually they just stopped, because it was just taking over the paper.
Korea’s in the spotlight, and a lot of dysfunctional things are going to have to be shed quickly if Koreans want to earn the respect of other people in other countries.
I’m glad to see that the Korean press is willing to print articles about obnoxious Korean behavior abroad. But someone’s got to see that this kind of thing is completely uncalled for.
JYC wrote:I??m fine with white people appearing in Korean advertisements, for example, it just weirds me out though, that white people are the only foreigners permitted to appear in them.This is not quite the case. There is a recent commercial for medication in which the neighbor child who’s sick appears to be of South Asian descent (technically Caucasian, but what some refer to as “a White person of color”). Also, the recent weird Korean Airlines advertisement prominently features a Black flight attendant (Jodi had a write-up on this false diversity in her blog, but I don’t have the precise link). The first one is quite notable, I think, since it very casually shows non-Koreans as one’s neighbors.
I think JYC made a great point about the advertising Apartheid on TV ads here. Hell, even most of the Korean people dress in white, like they’re about to head off to the squash court. It’s a real 1950s vibe. Except for the “edgy” commercials of metrosexual dudettes making sexual advances with their cell phones. They’re dressed all in black, of course, because they’re bitchin.’
Bitter Asian Men
Charles Jenkins wasn’t allowed to marry a Korean woman, was he. They had to go so far as to kidnap his bride.
Our friend Shakuhachi has been kind enough to reprint it on his fine blog, which unfortunately is not linked on Marmot??s.
I’m just curious, is this supposed to be ironic, or is it passive aggression by proxy?
You know, technically, you can link the blog like so, or if you want to ask Marmot to do PR for you, you could probably just ask him directly. Or you could just paste the letter here.
Dogbert wrote:
Charles Jenkins wasn??t allowed to marry a Korean woman, was he. They had to go so far as to kidnap his bride. Hmm… maybe I should have specified that I meant South Korea. I don’t know if highly restrictive communist countries such as North Korea are really relevant to the South Korean situation. After all, it is the democracy of this country that would make anti-miscegenation laws stand out so much (like in the U.S. prior to Integration).
I don’t think the North Koreans are allowed to marry anyone who’s not a DPRK citizen. And Charles Jenkins wasn’t really trusted to be around anyone, including his own ex-patriot (!) countrymen.
Isn’t this also true in China? In the mid-1990s I had several chances to spend several days to several weeks in the PRC, and I was flat-out told that dating PRC citizens was not allowed.
Anyway, after 1948, I wonder if there were any anti-miscegenation laws (or laws that would have the same effect) in the Republic of Korea.
Excellent call by Dogbert. I know you are extensively knowledgeable about Korea as well and a big thanks for taking a role in protesting this.
As soon as I saw the headline I knew something was wrong - thanks for DB for stamping it down. I thought this was going to be a sensationalist article by a writer-wannabe (foreigners that try to act big) but otherwise even the headline is simply amiss from reality. Hongik isn’t at all a paradise.
Kushibo — have to disagree with your comment that Korea is a ‘democracy.’
You know, if anyone’s wondering where they can hook up, Baduk’s got the goods over here.
Or, try this.
Mae says:
a korean co-worker of mine of late 30??s once proudly told me his wife brought a virgin cirtificate when they married. adding it was common practice for the conservative upper class family then(about 7years ago) i dont know if it was true or not but he seemed serious.
I’ve got news for you. I knew a plastic surgeon in 1993 and his second-most performed operation was hymenoplasty, or to the layman, “putting the cherry back in place.” The guy really got a kick out of it when he did it to the same girl twice.
The gals were just as into pre-marital coitus back then as they are now. They just don’t bother with the surgeons anymore.
I have had a few people bring up the “children” being accepted in Korea. I told them Korea is getting better and better albeit at a painfully slow pace. Then I tell them, “Why do you think I would want to raise my kid in Korea in the first place?” They usually just seem a bit shocked for a second or two, and then nod their heads in agreement. Of course I want my kids to spend some time in Korea for various reasons. But when they get to school age, I’m going back home.
BTW - Where is this Picasso Street? I need to stay away from Route 66 and those dreaded L.I. Iced Teas.
Picasso Street is that angled street, running past some small park near either ????????? or ??????, isn’t it? Sorry, but I’m operating off of long memory (and that, addled by alcohol), so I can??t be more sure.
Harold and Kumar is a good example. The whole point of that film is to take a comedic style which is stereotypically going to be a couple of white guys, and instead have a Korean-American and an Indian-American, which anyone from New Jersey knows are both very, very common in the state. Harold, the Korean guy, is in love with this white/Hispanic woman who he feels is out of his league. I don’t remember if it’s specifically mentioned that it’s because he’s Asian and she’s white, but that’s at least the subtext. But, since it’s a comedy, everything works out in the end, but the movie is a good presentation of race in today’s society.
Plockhoy- see the movie, it’s pretty funny. Of course, be warned that at it’s heart it’s a stoner comedy so you might not want to bother if you’re into that sort of thing. And if you really ARE into that sort of thing, prepare accordingly (with white castle take-out if possible in your area)
Foreigner, We have definitely had different experiences in the U.S. In 1965 Feyetteville, North Carolina, you passed a “Join and Support the United Klans of America” billboard when entering on a state road. In 1975 Fayetteville, I saw a Black man and White woman walking along the sidewalk, holding hands. No one as much as made a comment. I returned to live in North Carolina from 1983-86, and 1990-94, with a Vietnamese wife. Fayetteville then had a fairly respectable Asian community, mostly Vietnamese, Thai, Philippine, and Korean. There were mixed race couples everywhere, and no one raised an eyebrow. Most were American men (White, Black, and Hispanic) married to Asian women, but we had many one race families (usually in-laws who had immigrated to the U.S.), as well as a few Asian men married to American (always white) women. A great many of these couples had children attending High School or College. I never heard anyone complain that either themselves, as a bi-racial couple, or their children, were routinely subjected to harrassment because they were either a mixed race couple or of mixed race heritage. There was always the odd idiot anyone could run into, but people in North Carolina’s cities and large towns never raised an eyebrow. Indeed, many of these families have remained in North Carolina and, if you’ll pardon the boosterism, “proud to call North Carolina home.”
That’s great to hear, Lirelou–I just had a few bad encounters in L.A., probably because the city is geographically segregated. It might be different in a smaller town.
Hey super(small)korean!
I shagged your sister last night. She said I was better than you. Many times. She also said I was better than your father, uncle, her husband or his brother. In fact, she said the only member of your family who gave her any pleasure was her sister. You’d better get back to Korea so that you can thoroughly beat some Korean “sense” into her. Don’t forget your baseball bat.