A Korean Prostitute's calling card (anyone know Korean)? - threadomanced
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Joshua Randall
Legend
What would really cap this off is if someone in Korea could call the number and see if it's still in business, 7 years later. 
buddhafrog
First Post
Never thought I'd be able to add my insight on this topic on Enworld, but here goes:
Living in Korea now, and have for almost a decade. My wife (now Korean-American) is a descendant of King SeJong, the "greatest" of the Korean Kings. He created the language Hangul in the 1400's to replace the Chinese borrowed language - they used many of the characters/pictures used in chinese, although with different pronunciations and often altered meanings. It was a very difficult language and created a distinct class of educated scholars (very few) and the masses.
Sejong created a scientific language that would be easy to learn. It is, extremely. [learning the Korean language is another thing altogether]. With 5 hours study, you could read any Korea word, promised.
Side note: being a direct decedent of the King means nothing these days, however it is pretty cool for my D&D loving 9 year old son. When we visit Seoul we always visit the Sejong family palace -
GyeongBokGung Palace. It's enormous, mysterious, and filled with adventure for anyone, but especially a young mind like my son. He likes to mention that hereditarily, this is also his palace... though I doubt they'd look too kindly on a 1/2 Korean 1/2 Caucasian descendant.
This card is likely not about sex mostly b/c it is for men and women. It is in Korea, and the 20,000 won equals about $17.
You can find cards like this littering the streets in downtown areas late at night, especially on the weekend. Daily you can see drop-out boys riding their mopeds flipping business cards (for all sorts of business, but heavy on the nightclub and hostess clubs) in all directions. Probably in Korean Town LA as well. In Japan, where sex is famously more open, it'll look like sex cards fell from the sky like snow. (none of this, especially in Korea, will help a desperate foreigner find quick sex by the way - these places generally aren't too interested in foreign clients).
Many massage parlors are not open 24 hrs. If it's open 24 hours, it does have a greater chance to be a pseudo-sex shop. You could still go to these places and get the straight massage, but if you paid more, and only if the masseuse was willing, there could be a deal made between both parties.
The business of sex is huge in Korea, from hostess karaoke clubs, coffee shop girls who deliver coffee and ride around on mopeds, salons that do more than wash your hair, to the dingy small alleys where sad ladies stand in floor to ceiling storefront windows drenched in red lights. It is much more accepted here than in America. However, sex here is not in your face, is not the seedy swampland at all you'll find in places like Thailand. Rather it is understood that sex happens and you might as well make money from it, although it is always hidden and behind doors. In general Korea is a *very* modest country and think Americans are sluts. Odd, but possibly true. The only big problem I have with it is that this is semi-approved for men, while women seeking such places would be considered absolutely wretched.
The sex industry is huge - these articles say it ranges from 1-5% of Gross Domestic Product, which is nuts - and you should know that Korea is very wealthy, 15th GNP in the world.
Commercial sex survives despite crackdown
4%
wiki never lies
As for baths, salons, etc, they are everywhere. I lived for a year in an apt with no shower. I went every other day to the small public bath down the block. They are awesome. My sons and I go monthly. I've gone with the male members of my wife's family. About 10 of us from three generations sitting around naked soaking then scrubbing ourselves to get rid of the dead skin. Odd, but with the proper mindset, a very healthy thing. When my dad visited, he would have none of it, not surprisingly.
But as for D&D, I think it's an awesome idea. Drop a card on a dead person's body or a sort of coupon in a treasure chest. What will it lead to? Sex? "Saw"-type execution club? Magic trade show? Spy or assassin's calling card, etc.
Living in Korea now, and have for almost a decade. My wife (now Korean-American) is a descendant of King SeJong, the "greatest" of the Korean Kings. He created the language Hangul in the 1400's to replace the Chinese borrowed language - they used many of the characters/pictures used in chinese, although with different pronunciations and often altered meanings. It was a very difficult language and created a distinct class of educated scholars (very few) and the masses.
Sejong created a scientific language that would be easy to learn. It is, extremely. [learning the Korean language is another thing altogether]. With 5 hours study, you could read any Korea word, promised.
Side note: being a direct decedent of the King means nothing these days, however it is pretty cool for my D&D loving 9 year old son. When we visit Seoul we always visit the Sejong family palace -
GyeongBokGung Palace. It's enormous, mysterious, and filled with adventure for anyone, but especially a young mind like my son. He likes to mention that hereditarily, this is also his palace... though I doubt they'd look too kindly on a 1/2 Korean 1/2 Caucasian descendant.
This card is likely not about sex mostly b/c it is for men and women. It is in Korea, and the 20,000 won equals about $17.
You can find cards like this littering the streets in downtown areas late at night, especially on the weekend. Daily you can see drop-out boys riding their mopeds flipping business cards (for all sorts of business, but heavy on the nightclub and hostess clubs) in all directions. Probably in Korean Town LA as well. In Japan, where sex is famously more open, it'll look like sex cards fell from the sky like snow. (none of this, especially in Korea, will help a desperate foreigner find quick sex by the way - these places generally aren't too interested in foreign clients).
Many massage parlors are not open 24 hrs. If it's open 24 hours, it does have a greater chance to be a pseudo-sex shop. You could still go to these places and get the straight massage, but if you paid more, and only if the masseuse was willing, there could be a deal made between both parties.
The business of sex is huge in Korea, from hostess karaoke clubs, coffee shop girls who deliver coffee and ride around on mopeds, salons that do more than wash your hair, to the dingy small alleys where sad ladies stand in floor to ceiling storefront windows drenched in red lights. It is much more accepted here than in America. However, sex here is not in your face, is not the seedy swampland at all you'll find in places like Thailand. Rather it is understood that sex happens and you might as well make money from it, although it is always hidden and behind doors. In general Korea is a *very* modest country and think Americans are sluts. Odd, but possibly true. The only big problem I have with it is that this is semi-approved for men, while women seeking such places would be considered absolutely wretched.
The sex industry is huge - these articles say it ranges from 1-5% of Gross Domestic Product, which is nuts - and you should know that Korea is very wealthy, 15th GNP in the world.
Commercial sex survives despite crackdown
4%
wiki never lies
As for baths, salons, etc, they are everywhere. I lived for a year in an apt with no shower. I went every other day to the small public bath down the block. They are awesome. My sons and I go monthly. I've gone with the male members of my wife's family. About 10 of us from three generations sitting around naked soaking then scrubbing ourselves to get rid of the dead skin. Odd, but with the proper mindset, a very healthy thing. When my dad visited, he would have none of it, not surprisingly.
But as for D&D, I think it's an awesome idea. Drop a card on a dead person's body or a sort of coupon in a treasure chest. What will it lead to? Sex? "Saw"-type execution club? Magic trade show? Spy or assassin's calling card, etc.
Last edited:
Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
I wandered into this topic out of perverse curiosity, I thought maybe a Korean hooker would have some of geek oriented pick up line given how much they love Starcraft over there or something. Then I noticed the dates and wondered who hell necroed this and why? Noobs necro the damndest things sometimes. If it was spam though, I'll bet 50 electrum pieces that it was one of those Chinese dating service things that have been spamming message boards and webpage comment areas a lot recently.
I can't say for Korea what that would mean.
But in Singapore (my wife is Singaporean, and we go at least once a year), I've been to a blind massage parlor. What it means there is literally a massage parlor where the masseurs (male in this case) are blind. In Singapore apparently it's an option in education for the blind to train as a masseur/masseuse, with the idea that it's all done by touch.
It's quite possible Korea might have the same cultural norm.
I believe in Chinese-speaking countries, a front for prostitution would typically be called a tea house, or perhaps a barbershop. Again Korean culture may differ, and I may be remembering wrong -- I'm vaguely remembering a tale by a Chinese-speaking college friend who lived in Taiwan that I heard 20+ years ago, plus some Pearl S. Buck stuff.
Hussar
Legend
In Korea, the tea house is called a Da Bang. Kinda-sorta hostess club. Some of them are *ahem* more full service, but most are not. If you wander around Korea, you'll see young women in very tight dresses on scooters with a coffee service in the basket of the scooter. They do deliver.
Yes, traditionally, blind woman massage was a fairly straight up job. However, these places are almost never on the up and up. If it was, 20k won wouldn't be enough. The 20k won is the door money.
I suppose it's possible this could be an exception, but, my money is, it's not.
((Hey Buddhafrog, where did you live in Korea? I was there from 98 to late 02. Mostly in Taejon.))
Yes, traditionally, blind woman massage was a fairly straight up job. However, these places are almost never on the up and up. If it was, 20k won wouldn't be enough. The 20k won is the door money.
I suppose it's possible this could be an exception, but, my money is, it's not.
((Hey Buddhafrog, where did you live in Korea? I was there from 98 to late 02. Mostly in Taejon.))
buddhafrog
First Post
What would really cap this off is if someone in Korea could call the number and see if it's still in business, 7 years later.
I'm on it! If only b/c I am in Korea and this finally makes me feel as if my time here, after a decade, *now* has a meaning. See, I just knew I was meant to come here. I Will update Sunday. Stay tuned for the breaking news.
buddhafrog
First Post
I'm here now, in Ulsan, since 2008. I was here from '95-'00 in Pusan then Seoul.
I've been to a blind masseuse. I can't imagine how much he would have had to pay me to have sex with him. But no, it wasn't a sex business.
I've been to a "da bang 다방", and was like a dark bar where hostesses poured your drink and laughed at your jokes. I've been to very-high-end private karaokes where the host of the party spent close to $2K one night, and we had plenty of beautiful women serving us drinks and food, sitting closely with us and dancing and flirting. There might have been a little extra curricular activities when some of the others went to the restroom - I don't know. But I'm married and all...
El Mahdi
Muad'Dib of the Anauroch
I was in Korea from '97 to mid '01, when I was able to see the "Juicy" Bars first hand. They're extremely prevalent around the military bases. Kind of sucked at the time because it could be difficult to find a non-Juicy Bar to just hang out at (one where you aren't constantly getting asked to "by me a Juicy?"). Some guys really enjoyed those bars though. I knew one guy that maxed out a $10,000 dollar limit credit card during a 1 year tour, all on Juicy Girls. However, this was all pre-crackdown, so I don't know how much, or whether, it's changed. I am glad though that they've been cracked down on. It was pure and simple sex trade and traffiking.
There were three different types of Juicy Bars outside of my base (Osan) in Songtan: Korean bars, Filipina bars, and Russian bars. They all worked basically the same: you could buy one of the bar girls a Juicy (usually a small glass of juice) for $5 to $10 dollars, and for as long as the girl had a drink, she would sit and talk to you. How fast she drank the Juice depended a bit on how interesting a conversationalist you could be, but usually more on how much pressure the mama-san put on her. Also, you could pay a girls "bar-fine" in order to get her out of the bar for the night (although not always, but usually for sex). It always had to be negotiated with the mama-san or bar owner, and could vary from $20 to $100 for every hour she still had on her shift.
The Korean bars were filled with mostly Korean girls, who were more or less free agents (although they've probably gotten into this the same way most women in America get into this type of thing). The Filipina and Russian girls were another story. They were usually tricked into coming to Korea for a "Hostess" job, then had they're passport taken away from them by their patron upon arrival. They don't get their passports back until they've payed back their patron for their travel and living expenses. Typically, the girls don't make enough money from just guys ordering them Juices, so allowing themselves to be bar-fined out is the only way to make enough money. It's all their own choice, yet not really...
Girls being beaten into compliance, or because of trying to run away, weren't completely unheard of either.
There was a big expose by 60 minutes a few years ago that prompted a change in the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) making it illegal to bar-fine a girl, and causing a major crackdown on the sex trade by the Korean government. I don't know how successful it was since I had already left by then, but I still see stories in the press. I recently read an article stating that the sex industry was still as prevalent as ever, and another about a new military investigation of whether military security forces are protecting the Juicy-Bars (probably referring to the Town Patrols, which are supposed to be there to keep military members from getting out of line and creating incidents).
Pre-crackdown, there was virtually nothing being done to check it. Military leadership simply didn't have any authority to do anything about it. Even some officers patroned the girls. There was actually a book floating around the units, compiled by military members previously stationed there and called "The Keys to the Kingdom", explaining how to best achieve success in getting a Juicy Girl. Kind of a "Juicy Girls for Dummies" book. It was really quite sordid and disgraceful.
But, back to the OP, if the massage parlour on that card does include sex, as some have already said it probably doesn't prefer foriegners, and quite likely out-and-out forbids GI's. I could see it as a pretty cool adventure hook also. Understanding the Juicy Bars could add some interesting color and intrigue to modern campaigns also. Perhaps a Juicy Girl has some important information you need, for the price of getting her free of her patron...
There were three different types of Juicy Bars outside of my base (Osan) in Songtan: Korean bars, Filipina bars, and Russian bars. They all worked basically the same: you could buy one of the bar girls a Juicy (usually a small glass of juice) for $5 to $10 dollars, and for as long as the girl had a drink, she would sit and talk to you. How fast she drank the Juice depended a bit on how interesting a conversationalist you could be, but usually more on how much pressure the mama-san put on her. Also, you could pay a girls "bar-fine" in order to get her out of the bar for the night (although not always, but usually for sex). It always had to be negotiated with the mama-san or bar owner, and could vary from $20 to $100 for every hour she still had on her shift.
The Korean bars were filled with mostly Korean girls, who were more or less free agents (although they've probably gotten into this the same way most women in America get into this type of thing). The Filipina and Russian girls were another story. They were usually tricked into coming to Korea for a "Hostess" job, then had they're passport taken away from them by their patron upon arrival. They don't get their passports back until they've payed back their patron for their travel and living expenses. Typically, the girls don't make enough money from just guys ordering them Juices, so allowing themselves to be bar-fined out is the only way to make enough money. It's all their own choice, yet not really...
Girls being beaten into compliance, or because of trying to run away, weren't completely unheard of either.There was a big expose by 60 minutes a few years ago that prompted a change in the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) making it illegal to bar-fine a girl, and causing a major crackdown on the sex trade by the Korean government. I don't know how successful it was since I had already left by then, but I still see stories in the press. I recently read an article stating that the sex industry was still as prevalent as ever, and another about a new military investigation of whether military security forces are protecting the Juicy-Bars (probably referring to the Town Patrols, which are supposed to be there to keep military members from getting out of line and creating incidents).
Pre-crackdown, there was virtually nothing being done to check it. Military leadership simply didn't have any authority to do anything about it. Even some officers patroned the girls. There was actually a book floating around the units, compiled by military members previously stationed there and called "The Keys to the Kingdom", explaining how to best achieve success in getting a Juicy Girl. Kind of a "Juicy Girls for Dummies" book. It was really quite sordid and disgraceful.
But, back to the OP, if the massage parlour on that card does include sex, as some have already said it probably doesn't prefer foriegners, and quite likely out-and-out forbids GI's. I could see it as a pretty cool adventure hook also. Understanding the Juicy Bars could add some interesting color and intrigue to modern campaigns also. Perhaps a Juicy Girl has some important information you need, for the price of getting her free of her patron...
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