Brian had this to say;
"Right, apologist.
I'm not saying love motels don't attract prostitutes and johns, or that they don't have condoms or vending machines. But it's lazy to call them brothels, when you're not going to find brothels in Yeongam and Mokpo."
I didn't say Brian was an apologist. There was something about a "cunning stunt" in the comment section being either Korean or an apologist. That wasn't a poke at Brian ... unless he is also that poster. When it came to Brian I simply asked the question if someone calling a love hotel (which may or may not have hookers or order them for you) is a moron what should I call someone labeling them a moron? An apologist? I did say, in the comments that it made me wonder if Brian was on his way to becoming an apologist. Maybe I just should have said he was a moron himself?
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would hear a reply so ... moronic from him. You aren't going to find brothels in Mokpo?!?!? What the kimchi?!?? Has he been smoking that whacky tobaccy?
If he had just said it is lazy to call them all brothels I could have agreed with him. It was lazy because not all of them are brothels. They could have and should have qualified their comment. But then Brian went on to make that insanely stupid statement about Mokpo.
I have been in much smaller cities than Mokpo and there were double barber poles around. Reading what was said in A Year in Mokpo would make me think there are massage parlours in Mokpo. You know, the ubiquitous Korean massage parlours where you go for a haircut, shave, and a happy ending. Those aren't brothels of a sort?
I was visiting friends who lived out in the rice fields several years ago. The love hotel I stayed in offered women through room service. Plus there were massage parlours around ... as I said you can't miss the double barber pools. Mokpo is HUGE compared to that town and you are trying to say they have no brothels there?!?
I guess Brian doesn't follow Korea Beat. Or else he doesn't consider Room Salon's, a place that provides prostitutes, a type of brothel. If so he has a strange definition of what constitutes a brothel. Oh wait, he has links to Korea Beat AND A Year in Mokpo on his site.
I decided to do a google search to see what I could find about Mokpo and Brothels. Once you got rid of the current articles about the F1 there was some stuff to be found. A Year in Mokpo's site, Korea Beat, even a poster on Asia Finest talked about brothels/hookers in Mokpo. He said in 2007;
"I live in Mokpo, and there are anmas and full-service barbershops on every corner. Why would it be different in other places with a large Korean male population?"
Was he lying? Exaggerating about every corner maybe, much like calling every Love Hotel a brothel is exaggerating ... but lying? After all you won't find any brothels in Mokpo. Right Brian?
Which brings me back to his comment that you won't find brothels in Mokpo. If the people calling love hotels are morons for being lazy what the kimchi does that make Brian for his statement about brothels in Mokpo?
Is he being disingenuous, moronic, or maybe he drank too much kool aid and is trying to pass it on? Having followed his blog for years I don't think he is a moron or an apologist. That leaves disingenuous. Maybe it was just a momentary lapse of reason?
As I said in the other post, I should have said no red-light districts. As someone who has spent more time in Yeongam, Mokpo, and Jeollanam-do than most bloggers and readers, I am pretty comfortable in my knowledge of the region. Yes, there are rub-and-tugs (barberpole places) fairly common there, as in everywhere. There's a block in Gwangju's Sangmu area with five Anma stacked on top of one another.
ReplyDeleteI'm not denying that Korea doesn't have a healthy sex industry, or that you can't find those services on nearly every corner. I'm also not denying that motels don't often have condoms, or vending machines, or adult DVDs, or calling cards.
All I was getting at is that it's lazy to call love motels brothels. I'd thought I'd get a little more slack considering how much I've written about both Jeollanam-do and the sex industry, but I guess if I don't attack Korea with every single post I lose some credibility among a few readers.
Like I said ... I don't think you are a moron or an apologist. Momentary lapse of reason fits.
ReplyDeleteI don't care if you don't attack Korea with every post. The brothel comment didn't make sense. The lazy one did.
"momentary lapse of reason" yeah, probably.
ReplyDeleteKorea is 13 hours away, and it was early and i was tired.
I would be lying if I said I didn't do the same thing myself.
ReplyDeleteThere is a red light district in Gwangju...a six or seven minute walk from downtown. It's extremely fruity.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that...I think a mountain is being made out of a mole hill acting like the F1 teams are all staying in brothels!
Yip yip. I've been to the usual love motels that everyone else has. The one I'll always remember was in Tongyeong. The ajumma's 'puter had a program that showed all the rooms in the motel, and whether they were occupied or not. The empty rooms had a cartoon of... an empty room. The occupied rooms addded a man sitting on the bed, dressed in a suit and tie. His tie was loosened and he was holding a bottle of soju. Next to the bed, dancing with wild abandon (in a skimpy outfit), was a sexy girl.
ReplyDelete