I went to the blog that offended Blian's sensibilities so much. I was expecting it to REALLY rip into Korea and Love Hotels. It didn't. While it did call them brothels and reprinted comments by people about finding used condoms or rooms that had been rented out for an hour or so it also contained comments talking about how nice the room was and the amenities that came with it. Hardly a blistering piece of blogging.
One cunning stunt who posted in the comment section was fun to read. He is either Korean or a Korean apologist. Why? Well, he droned on about Love Hotels being cultural. He threw out the old "The people writing these articles know nothing about Asian culture." Then he went on about how they are used to take girlfriends to, which is true, but he completely ignored their other use. He even threw in a Japan comparison while ignoring that other aspect of Korean culture, men using hookers of all sorts.
Now a hotel that supplies a room with dildo machines, condoms, sex toys, and/or porn doesn't make it a brothel. Nor does renting rooms out by the hour. There are "No-Tell" Motels all over the world. Love hotels do make a cheaper alternative to regular hotels and are usually well kitted out. Huge beds, TV's, some have whirlpool bath tubs. Most of the ones I have stayed at have been very clean and modern. Better than higher priced main stream hotels.
However, I would class many of the love hotels I have stayed at or seen as brothels of a sort. Why? You can order a woman, and I don't mean with an ad for a coffee girl although you will see them around too. Many of the love hotels I have stayed at have a menu by the phone. You could order food, drink, or a woman. Prices were shown for the food and drink but not for the woman. Several of the hotels had a norae bang (singing room) in the basement, with a lot of "partners" waiting for guys to cum sing or they had their own low end Room Salon. And a Room Salon is a kind of brothel.
The same sort of comments and problems turned up during World Cup 2002. The Korean government actually forced owners to label their hotels "World Inns" to get away from the love hotel image. My biggest problem with Love Hotels during World Cup was the way they doubled or tripled their prices. We ended up paying 70-80,000 won for what would have been a 30,000 won room in Ulsan for the Denmark vs Uruguay match. Bloody gougers!
A hotel with singing room hookers, room salon hookers, or a hooker you can order up to your room over the phone. I have no problem with someone calling a place like that a brothel. Is someone calling a place like that brothel a moron or is the person doing the labeling being an apologist?
Not all love hotels are brothels. But not all love hotels are the awesome shangrilas that he posted on his website too. I've stayed in places where they didn't empty the trash cans, had old bars of soap with short curly black hairs, and of course the used tube of tooth paste.
ReplyDeleteEven if a love hotel is nice on the inside, I don't feel good about getting under the blankets.
As for brothels? WTF? Some room salons have motels attached to them. I suppose a "business room" has a motel attached to it because so much business gets done that the ajoshis need a place to sleep because they are tired.
Also like, ESL jobs, love motels for travelers are hit or miss. I stayed in one in Haeyundai that was pretty sweet. It had this crazy porn movie bathroom with a disco ball. A year or two later I stayed in the same place, in a different room. The faucet in the bathroom was taped to the sink, and there was no pipe that connected the sink to the floor.
I imagine that's how a lot of places are, they just paint over the dead hooker blood, or put a painting over it.
Also there are a lot of places that might not be straight up brothels, but why the hell are there girls out front yelling Oppa? Granted I have never been in such places, but it can be kind of fun to walk through one of those parts of town, just to see if they still do that kind of thing. (Full disclosure I actually haven't walked through the dodgy neighborhood in Jinju across the street from the bus station at night in a few years.)
Also, at least in my neck of the woods it has gotten a lot tamer in the time that I have lived here. You don't see coffee shop girls on the backs of bike anymore, they have these little vans that they use, but I don't know about Mokpo, or Jeollanamdo.
Yeah. I have stayed in some nice ones and seen some dives. I would have to say I have been lucky with love hotels. Only a few dives.
ReplyDeleteI still remember the one a friend stayed at in Cheongju. 20,000 for a room and 20,000 for a woman. He said the room was nicer than the woman ... but any port in a storm.
Getting pissy because someone complained they were brothels and ignoring the fact that some are just makes me wonder if Blian is becoming an apologist.
Right, apologist.
ReplyDeleteI'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.
Ha ha ha! You really believe there aren't any brothels in Mokpo?
ReplyDeleteI have seen the double barber poles in much smaller towns.
Next you will be saying there is no kimchi in Mokpo.
Do I think you are an apologist? No, not yet anyway. I do think you are either being disingenuous or have MASSIVE blinders on.
Thanks again Brian. It has been a shitty week ... lots of stress ... but you almost made me piss myself laughing with that comment. No brothels in Mokpo!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
ReplyDeleteI really needed the laugh. :)
Nevermind, what I should have said was that there aren't the red-light districts in Yeongam and Mokpo. There are of course those barberpole, rub-and-tug places and there's a block in Gwangju with five Anma in the same building.
ReplyDeleteGeez, sorry to have fallen so low in your esteem. I thought you guys'd cut me some slack, especially considering how much I've written about both Jeollanam-do and the sex trade.