South Korea

A few weeks ago, myself and some friends were rounding off the night in a Russian bar in the centre of the district. It was 9am and the place was packed. Overweight Koreans danced with scantily clad Russian whores. A group of Uzbekistani construction workers got drunk in a corner, watched suspiciously by the thuggish security, there to “keep the peace”. Suddenly the music stopped and the sound of broken glass filled the air. Some of the Uzbekistanis had got involved with a few Koreans. Things soon got nasty and as blood was being literally splattered about the place, four musclebound Korean mafiose ran in wielding chains and generally kicking the shit out of people. Predictably this “peacekeeping” measure didn’t calm things down and soon the only people not involved were ourselves and a gaggle of peroxide whores standing nervously in the corner. Eventually the fight ended, the music restarted and everybody went happily back to boozing and whoring.

While not an everyday occurrence, these fights are commonplace in Itaewon, just one of the reasons why many Koreans regard the area as a complete no-go. Most of the action is centered around ‘Hooker Hill’, which, predictably enough is not somewhere for that Sunday afternoon family stroll. No, Hooker Hill is the main red light district in Seoul catering for Westerners, mainly US servicemen. Walking up the hill once the sun goes down is a trying experience. Heavily made up Korean whores literally try and drag you into their ‘bars’. Shouting things like “You want play?”, “Me want talk to you…two minute…come on baby…” etc, etc. Some of the girls are undoubtedly attractive, although most are hideous. And while many Koreans would like to think that Hooker Hill is an aberration, an anomaly simply there to cater for frustrated US soldiers, in reality it is just the tip of a sleazy iceberg.