Want to know more about the sex scene in Busan?
The second most populous city in South Korea, Busan is home to over 3.5 million inhabitants. Known as the summer capital of the country, Busan is a popular tourist destination as well as being home to South Korea’s largest industrial zone. The city is the country’s seat of learning with over three dozen universities, foreign schools and other institutes of higher education. Busan’s port is one of the busiest and largest in the world and is a major contributor to the local economy. As a result of the diverse mix of industries and visitors to Busan, the city must cater for all needs and, when it comes to adult entertainment, it doesn’t disappoint.
In this guide, we explore the city of Busan to bring you the best locations for sourcing adult entertainment.
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Prostitution in Busan
Prostitution is illegal in South Korea but is estimated to account for almost 1.5% of the country’s GDP being worth around $13 billion. A study conducted by the Medical College of Korea in 2015 revealed that almost a quarter (23.1%) of all Korean men and 2.6% of women had used the services of a prostitute.
A similar report published by the Korean Institute of Criminology suggests that 1 in 5 Korean men visit a prostitute up to four times a month with over 350,000 men doing so daily.
Estimates of the number of women working in the sex industry vary enormously with government reports suggesting that the figure is around 250,000 with other surveys putting the number at closer to 1.2 million.
The prostitution scene is made up of a lot of Korean women as well as other Asian countries being well-represented, including:
- Japan
- China
- Taiwan
- Singapore
There is also a good number of Eastern European ladies working here, predominantly from Russia.
As is the case in many Asian countries, particularly Japan, Western tourists can sometimes find it difficult to get full service in Busan. This is primarily due to fear of infection as well as the perceived size of foreigners dicks.
The modern sex trade in Busan can be dated back to the 1870s when the port was opened and a diplomatic agreement was enacted to offer comfort services to visiting sailors. In the north of the country, this practice was extended in the 1940s with the arrival of the US military and ‘camp town prostitution’ became a well-established part of the American army’s settlement in South Korea. The closet such camp in the Busan area is the naval base in Chinae.
Though the US authorities publicly denounce prostitution it is widely acknowledged that there is little effort on their part to discourage the activity. In fact, locals believe that the US Army prefers to have commercial sex services available for their personnel to use.
Though the sex trade is illegal, enforcement is not a major focus for the authorities and there is corruption which means services, though mainly underground, are largely tolerated and/or ignored.
Despite a government crackdown on brothels following the introduction of a new law in 2004, the red light districts of South Korea are still in operation (see Street Prostitutes & Red Light Districts, below).
Busan Escorts Guide
There aren’t that many escort agencies or independent escorts working in Busan itself as most working girls head to Seoul. However, most of the bigger agencies in Seoul will arrange for an escort to travel to Busan for an additional fee, though you may find that you have to commit to a minimum booking of 8-12 hours.
Sex in Busan
Brothels
Brothels aren’t legal in South Korea but there are various venues where you can get a similar service, each known by a different name.
Hostess/Whiskey “Talk” Bars
These bars offer companionship only and are not cheap. Attractive girls are paid to sit with customers and drink with them. Some charge for their attention whilst others just charge over the odds for their whiskey. A lot of foreigners who don’t know what to expect from the South Korean sex scene leave these bars feeling disappointed and ripped off. You should understand that the lure of these bars is just flirtation and some minor touching. Some men report being able to pull a whiskey girl but this is quite rare.
Barbershops
Barbershops, identified by two striped barber poles, offer a manual service. Some can be quite seedy places, sometimes staffed by more mature Korean ladies. Some offer oral services much the same way as the pink salons of Japan. Some salons will offer full sex.
The services here can be a bit hit and miss with some punters reporting that they found themselves getting started by a young lady only to open their eyes and find an old man in her place.
Kiss Rooms/ Kiss Bangs/ K Rooms
Offering more of a girlfriend experience, the women in kiss bangs don’t offer full service. Instead, you can French kiss, cuddle with some touching allowed; basically, you are paying for companionship.
It is a given that most men will masturbate themselves and there are signs in Korean and English asking you to clean up after yourself.
The cost for 30 minutes is around $40 and foreigners are generally welcome.
Try the Busan K Room website for more details.
Window Girls
Available in the Green Street red-light district and other areas of town, girls are displayed in the windows and offer a quick service for around $100.
The girls are mostly local ladies and usually sleep with dozens of men each night and are often in a hurry to finish. Some are not foreigner friendly but it is usually the mama sans on the streets who tout for trade so you should be approached before you even get to the venue.
Blowjob Bars/ Pink Salons
A variation of the massage barbershops, pink salons offer a perfunctory stress relief where you take a seat in a private booth (sometimes just a curtain in a room). A topless women will give your privates a sponge down before giving you a blowjob. Most will let you touch their breasts though some establishments are not foreigner friendly.
Daeddal Rooms
“Daeddal” is an abbreviation is the Korean term ‘daeshin ddalddali’, which means indirect masturbation. Essentially, they are jerk off bars with no full service.
Basic daedal rooms offer handjob only whilst some others will skilfully simulate penetration by riding you cowgirl style but using their hands. Others offer oral as well as massage and extras such as inserting a finger in the anus.
Cheaper than full sex, many expats prefer this kind of service to penetration and it offers less risk of infection. Expect to pay around $100 for a service of this kind.
Officetel
There are less and less of these kind of one-woman brothels advertised online but you can sometimes find them via classified sites; you may even be offered to be taken to one by a taxi-driver. Set up like a studio apartment, there are usually several women in the same block all with the same pimp running the show. The service is mainly GFE and is less rushed than via the window shops or salons as the girls do well out of repeat business. The cost is also reasonable and can be as low as $100 up to $200.
Love Motel/Delivery
Most love motels in South Korea will offer a delivery service. Whilst you can book the room by the hour for your own purposes (escort or pick-up), they often have girls they can call or, at very least, they can give you a business cards of some girls. Most of the time, the lady who arrives will be nothing like the picture on the card but, if you aren’t that fussy, you can get a service for $150-$200 in addition to the cost of the room. Quality of the service will vary and, being a foreigner, you often don’t have much of a choice.
KTVs
Also known as noraebangs or karaoke bars, these venues offer you a choice of girls to join you and your friends for an evening of entertainment. The karaoke rooms themselves are very popular in Asia and you simply spend a few hours drinking and singing before heading to a love hotel for sex (2 Cha).
Venues vary in terms of their service with some offering agency girls and others having their own stable of women on site. Just be aware that not all KTVs offer an adult service with many being set up for more R rated activities.
Expect to pay around $350-$600 per person.
Room Salons
A kind of KTV, room salons are specifically entertainment venues with sex available on site rather than having to head off to a hotel after. Some of the high end salons are quite expensive and you can pay anything from $500 up to $1500 per person for an evening of drinking, singing and being serviced. Some offer full sex whilst others only provide oral or manual relief.
Not all accept foreigners so you may have to shop around.
The luxury salons are called TenPros which claim to have the best looking women working in the industry. Ostensibly brothels, the room salons are generally clean and have good facilities.
Full Salons
Full salons are more wholesale versions of the room salons. Usually attached to a motel, they offer a noraebang experience with some drinking, singing and touching for an hour and then you head upstairs to a room for 30 minutes of sex.
Foreigners are generally more welcome at these venues and they are cheaper than a KTV or room salon. The average rate for 90 minutes entertainment is $300-$350. Unfortunately the services are often rushed as the girls are keen to turn over as many clients a night as possible.
Erotic Massage Parlours
There are plenty of parlours around Busan that provide happy endings though not all will provide services to foreigners. The red-light districts around Texas Street and Green Street are both popular with westerners and the ‘anmas’ here should provide erotic massage including rub and tug as well as full service.
As with all establishments in Korea, it is pretty obvious when you enter one of these parlours if your business is wanted or not.
Look out for the tell-tale signs of ‘sports massage’ alongside twin barber poles and you will not go far wrong, particularly if the signage is in English. Some are known as sex salons with spa services whilst others are more like actual barbers who employ women to provide massage services.
A rub and tug service will cost around $100 with full service being more like $200-$250.
Be aware that some of the seedier venues may be cheaper but can sometimes be disappointing in terms of service. There are plenty of stories of men who ask for a handjob on the massage table who have a towel placed over their eyes only to find that they are being jerked off by an old man.
Strip Clubs
There are no strip clubs in Busan that can be easily found by foreigners. Some venues do have strip action but they are kept very hush hush and are frequented by small groups of locals only. You won’t find clubs like Spearmint Rhino or Penthouse Cabaret in Busan.
Street Prostitutes & Red-Light Districts
Busan has several red-light areas, some larger than others. Street prostitution is common but you can also find sex workers in the bars, salons and clubs. Busan is also home to the country’s first modern day brothels when the Japanese invaded in 1904. Notorious comfort stations were established for the troops employing the services of locals as well as bringing in women from Japan.
Each area has its own character and reputation for clientele. Many of the women working in Busan are not amenable to working for foreigners and will simply show no interest in men who are not Korean, or at least not Asian. The reasons for this are many and varied but can include misconceptions about risk of infection, the size of foreign penises and racial preference.
The main red-light areas of Busan are:
- Texas Street: Also known as the foreigners shopping area, Texas Street by day is a popular tourist destination. At night, the clubs and bars turn the area into a more adult district and you can find Russian and Filipino street walkers touting for trade.
- Minam: There are a few alleys serviced by older Korean ladies. 1423-17 Oncheon 3(sam)-dong, Dongnae-gu is the centre of the action.
- ‘Green Street’: A notorious red light area of the city but commonly known as Won Il Dong, there are windows of scantily clad women lining the street. Westerners are not generally accepted here but it is the mama sans on the street who target single men for their business.
- Haeundae: The area around Haeundae Beach has quite a few spots known for pick-ups; in particular the side street known as 63 Haeundaehaebyeon-ro 209beonna.
- Gupo Market: On the outskirts of Deokchen and Gupo.
Prices outside of Texas Street and Green Street can be lower than $70 but there are no guarantees that foreigners will get serviced. The quality of the women is also lower.
Sex Shops
Some of the love hotels have vending machines on site which sell the basis of butt plugs, dildos and vibrators but there are also some small stores around Busan. There is a sex shop opposite the Busan station and transit hubs in general are good places to find these kind of bedroom basics.
Look for the Korean, 성인용품 (seong-in yong-pum) which translates as adult merchandise. These are a few of the bigger stores worth hitting up:
- Love 82, Busan, Dong-gu, 초량2동 1207-14
- 라이트타운, 35 Seomyeon-ro, Bujeon-dong, Busanjin-gu, Busan
- Busan, Suyeong-gu, 50-5
- 70-6 Nampodong 6(yuk)-ga, Jung-gu, Busan
- 946-8 Allak-dong, Dongnae-gu, Busan
Sukdeung, exit one has a store about five minutes walk. Look for a pink sign on the second floor marked with the female and male symbols and the word ‘Vikis’.
As with many cities, the trend has been towards online shopping and you can find sex toys for delivery in Busan via the Busan Sex Shop. Orders placed by 4pm are shipped the same day and you can pay extra for express delivery.
Featured image via Wikimedia.