Korean Job Discussion Forums

[inseoul]

About two weeks ago, a foreign teacher in Seoul, Korea was beaten/ threatened with weapons and kidnapped outside a popular nightclub in the Hongdae nightlife area of Seoul.

It is understood the place [M2 Nighlub] is run by a well established Korean gang (well the spoilt little son of a well known gangster with the help of a bunch or thugs that work for him).

It should be noted that two girls were also kidnapped and murdered in this same nightlife area in the past two weeks (one: 24 the other 25 years old). Their bodies were found down by the Han River in Seoul the next day.

People should be aware of the type of behavior Hong Dae is becoming known for, and perhaps even the type of behavior that si going on in Seoul, Korea.

Below is the story"
"

Do you know who owns/ runs the nightclubs/bars you frequent?

Do they appear to be �foreigner friendly�, but you sometimes pick up on negative sentiment or vibes while trying to get in or even getting served at the bar?

Well, here is a freaky story which should serve as a warning to all nightlife happy foreigners (guys only I guess) who like to skim around town on the weekends.


This post is on another popular Esl forum and I thought it would serve as useful information for some of the foreigners on this board too....pm me if you want to know where I got it.

"

All of the following events are completely true and happened last Saturday night to myself whilst in HongDae. I have however chosen the disguise the name of the actual bar to exercise a little caution. Lets just say it is probably the largest and most well known house/trance style club in HongDae. Want to the know the name �yes, Me 2 (if you cant decode that you are staying in too much!)

Anyway, the story:

Around 5am Saturday night, maybe closer to 6am- it was pretty much light outside- I purchased a white Russian at the bar in question. I also had a Heineken. I was drinking the Heiny and watching the dance floor (whilst sitting at the bar- the bar was almost empty-very late). When I turned back to the bar, the White Russian had gone. I asked the two female bar tenders who denied they had touched it, then when I stood up and looked down the sink behind the bar, I could see the ice and White Russian mix running down the sink hole.

I pointed at this and was fairly nice in simply asking for another. They really had no choice I guess, given they had been caught red handed. They were obviously embarrassed at having been caught and seemed disgruntled at having to pour another one. I guess they were keen to get the bar shut down and so were doing everything they could to move customers on.

Anyway, the new White Russian came along and I left exactly where they had put it. My phone rang at that stage and I stood up to answer it. It was very difficult to hear the person on the other end, and I wondered off towards the corner a little to try to hear better. There were by that stage only a couple of people left around the dance floor and no one else at all at the bar I was seated at. I took the Heineken with me in my hand but had left the White Russian exactly where it was placed by the bar tender.

I was only away from the bar for a split second, and at no time did any of the people from the dance floor approach the bar (they would have had to walk past me to do so).

Alas, when I returned the new White Russian had disappeared also. Except this time, the bar staff were standing five feet back from the bar and refused to look at me. When I called to them, they shook their heads and refused to come over and talk.

It was plainly obvious they had taken the drink again, but had disposed of it in another sink I presume as this time there was no trace.

Now, I have money when I go out and I am not that desperate for a drink at that time of the night. It is just the principle- any Country, any Bar, any service situation- you sell me something, you do not steal it back! I spent a few minutes trying to convince them to come over and talk but they refused. Eventually, I lost my cool a little, took a swig of the remaining Heineken and sent a small spurt of it sailing through the air to land nicely down the top front of one of the lovely bar tenders. I didn�t wait to see the reaction, I just sat back down with my back to them and proceeded to finish my beer.

A few seconds later I felt something cold on my back and turned around to find the girls spraying me with the water hose from the bar.

It was at that stage that I stood up and picked up two of those Tequila shots they put on the bar for sale, and t, with near perfect accuracy, threw one of each directly into their respective faces. (I am only ever that fluky when I�ve had a few drinks).

Within seconds, two security guards were on either side, grabbed both my arms and proceeded to hurl me up the stairs. The lovely bid bald guy who collects the money at the door had obviously been watching too, as he managed to position himself behind me as I was dragged up, and proceeded to put dirty back punches in while I was retrained. I was luckily able to kick him in the face a few times on the way up, just to say thanks.

Now, in my Country, or in most places in Itaewon also I suspect, I would then expect to be taken to the door, thrown out with various degrees of vigour and told to never come back. If that had of been the case, I would still have felt hard done by the next day, as it was really the bar tenders actions that provoked the whole situation. Certainly if it was my place, I would try to encourage my bar staff to not steal drinks off the bar just so they get home early (try not selling them to begin with maybe) and I would certainly ask them to refrain from hosing down customers who get fed up with their crap service.

Alas, this is not what happened.

I was dragged by both the bouncers with that big ugly bald guy close in tow, down the alley a little and past another 8-10 security guards who were standing by a van, and then pushed into a small, narrow, dead end alley 20 meters from the club entrance. If you know the club I am talking about, poke your head around the corner there one day and take a look. It would be the perfect setting for a scene from Fight Club or Gladiator. The auxiliary security guards all loiter there after they finish work at other clubs I presume. There were honestly at least 10 altogether. Some big, some scary, some short ugly and scary, some big ugly and scary etc�.u get the picture.

To be honest, I just resigned myself to the fact that I was going to die that night, and just walked down the alley and turned around to face my death.

For the next 45 minutes, I was poked, slapped, pushed, threatened, sworn at in both English and Korean, poked with a baton (which was also continuously smacked against the brick wall for effect), jabbed in the ribs a few times, slapped across the face and back of the head a couple of times. They all took turns, whilst one or two of the larger and uglier ones stood close guard to prevent any sort of escape attempt.

I made every attempt to be nice about the whole thing, and after about 30 minutes of physical and verbal abuse, I started to think I might actually survive the night. Eventually a manger came out who spoke English. Short little guy with a moustache. He told me a few times that I was probably going to die and that there was nothing he could do for me. Then another manager came out who didn�t say anything, fairly young guy with a cap, quite tall. He just stood right in front of me and steered �coldly� into my eyes. I got the feeling he was the ring leader as all the security guys stood back for him. I guess he is the head gang banger dude. Probably a family affair/ the son of someone etc.

He eventually said something to the short manager guy, who then told me they were going to bring up the bar tenders and I would have to kneel down in front of them on both knees and plead for my life.

One of them eventually came up and I started by asking her why she stole my drink and refused to listen to my complaint about it , but it quickly became apparent that it would be a one way discussion only and the bouncers started hooting like monkeys again, cracking their whips and banging their sticks etc (as you do).

I thought it best to get on with it and knelt down and told her, with all my heart, that I so regretted that she wore 50mils of my Heineken. I genuinely tried to do this in a way in which it seemed I was sincerely sorry and not just trying to avoid dying or spending 8 weeks in hospital followed by years of reconstructive surgery.

I held my gaze long enough, with a desperate look of pity�.and she eventually turned, nodded her head to the 10 or so protectors of her honour that surrounded me and headed back to the bar- presumably to finish stealing everyone elses drinks so she could slope off to the Soju Bang and work that mini skirt a little more.

There was a little more heckling, some more whip crackling and just a tad more baton bashing, before the security boys parted in the middle and I was allowed to walk free- with only some minor bruises, a scratched neck and a bruised or possibly fractured rib (its taken a week so far for it to start to ease up a little).

As I walked off, the short manager speaking guy called me back and told me they had a taken a photo of me looking up the girls skirt and would show it to �everyone� if I told anyone about this incident. Smart ah? Perhaps they will post it here if they read this post? Frankly, who cares.

Another interesting thing about this great weekend experience as a foreigner in Seoul, was that when I first got pushed down the alley and the bouncers were waiting for their manager to come up, I was able to make a quick 119 call, and tell them to send police to the nightclub (I said by name) in HongDae. My phone rang three times during my detention, but each time I went to answer it, they bouncers tried to grab the phone off me, so I couldn�t. Turned out (as I called the number later) that was a detective from the Mok Dong police station who was ringing to say they couldn�t find that nightclub but were calling to ask what the problem was. Later at home when I talked to that police man, he told me they couldn�t find that club, but that they had had problems with it before and were �watching them already�. Figure that out.

Anyway, the main theme for this post is really to warn other foreigners, not just about that club but also any other clubs or bars you go to where you sometimes feel like there is an under current of foreigner loathing, just busting for the right opportunity to reveal itself.

It could happen to anyone really, you look at a girl wrong, you drop your drink, etc�and next thing you are dragged down an alley by a bunch of uneducated K1 wannabies who hate foreign guys �phuckin wit their wimmin� and all those other half wit gangster phrases .

Stick to bars that are safe. Itaewon is actually not that bad. They would never drag you down an alley there.

And in particular watch out for that club in Hongdae. And I will too- or Me2 I should say. They obviously have some serious hate issues with foreigners. They know they need foreigners going there to make it interesting for the Koreans. Dare I say, the foreigners get the Korean girls all hot, and that brings in the Korean boys? Otherwise they have to resort to booking clubs. But, once you spent your cash on drinks, they are trigger finger happy to provoke you and throw you out.

So they want to foreign guys to go there, but seems obvious to me, they cannot stand us.

Even better, lets all boycott it and see how they get on with out us.

Out.

Mif.

"

[oneofthesarahs]

I feel sorry for this guy for getting the snot kicked out of him, but I really don't know if this is a "they hate foreigners" problem so much as it was probably a "you spit beer on our bartenders and threw tequila on them" problem. The security guys probably saw that go down and had no idea of the whole drink stealing episode. And of course they're going to believe their bartendresses rather than the random dude still at the club at 6 in the morning. Should they have just kicked him out and not beat him up? Sure, but I don't think we should all be worried about getting beat up all of a sudden.

[Captain Corea]

I was a doorman in Calgary for 5 years. This could of easily of happened there as well.

They should not have held ya and beat you in that alley - they were wrong in that.

But in my world, you spit on a bartender, chances are you're going to be thumped.

You just got thumped Korean Style. (I take it you've never seen the gangster movies??)


Either way man, I hope you heal up nicely.

[reactionary]

yeah, i agree that pouring your drink down the sink is a sucker move and bad business, but you should've just left the story at that - told everyone about how they poured out your drink, then never gone there again.

i strongly dislike that club as well, but tossing drinks is always a bad move. i mean it's just like back home - if you're in an establishment and staff throw a drink at you, then you throw a drink at them...who are the authorities going to believe?

i've had a drink thrown at me in itaewon by a bartendress, by the way. and that was because i didn't want to take my recently bought bottle outside so the bar could close up.

[inseoul]

looks like it will be a popular thread.

so want to note again: i got this thread from another board.

my view: weapons and 10 security guards, made to beg for life is absolutely wrong.

the heros and tough guys who like to make it sound like that stuff is all in a days work.....where is your sense of pride?

[oneofthesarahs]

I don't think anyone is trying to be a tough guy or hero. Everyone's just saying that no matter what the country, throwing a drink on a bartender (especially a female bartender) is an invitation to get your ass kicked.

[Dysupes]

If you agree with the guy that his behaviour was warranted (no matter what the bartenders had done) then I agree with you that you need to "watch yourself." However given the fact that he acted like a total *beep* and antagonized the staff I don't think he should be too pitied. He made his bed and then was more forcefully made to sleep in it than he would have liked. Boo hoo, the poor a$$hole bit off more than he could chew. Any guy who acts like he did deserves a wake up call every once in a while.

(No, I'm not condoning the outlandish tactics of the bouncers but on the other hand guys who behave like that are morons and deserved a good thumping now and again.)

[FistFace]

Wait for one of them outside with a baseball bat and beat the hell out of 'em.

Get even. Gangster style.

[Rikus]

You're very lucky that you are a foreigner. If you had been Korean, you would be in a lot worse shape. You sound like some kinda spoiled rich asshole. Throwing a drink in a girl's face is a bitch move. If you were feeling that frisky, you should have took it up with a male employee. Better yet, the manager. They were most likely acting on standard orders.

[djsmnc]

What a lame ass story. Almost the worst I've ever read on Dave's.

If you spit on a lady in a bar, something's bound to go down. At 99.9% of bars I've ever gone to in any country, if you leave a drink on the counter/table/ledge, you're running a high risk of it being thrown out, full or empty. You can't expect people to sit and watch your every move to make sure you will come back and finish your drink.

Then coming back and waving your arms and pointing like an idiot, probably not speaking a word of the native language of the country you're in, then spitting and throwing drinks on the bartenders....who's the monkey??

Someone should have tazered that foreigner. Instant deportation...to the Siberian gulag. The Korean punishment was lame too. They should have curbed him.

[the eye]

Yeah, you asked for it, OP.
Given it's a sad, sad scene when that club is the best this country can offer. The only thing saving that place is the music (sometimes).

Korean clubs employ gangs as security, so you take your chances when you assault staff.

[IncognitoHFX]

You didn't deserve that buddy, but you did deserve to be roughed up a bit. Korea or not Korea, you spit in a bartender's face after they made clear that they wanted you to leave. Most normal people would've left after they'd poured the first drink down the drain, you however, went as far as spitting in their face.

I don't think you deserved all that, but its a situation that could've been easily avoided if you exercised some common courtesy or restraint.

...and no one say this would've only happened in Korea. This could have easily happened back home (wherever you call home) if you spat in a bartender's face there. Possibly worse.

[Dexter Sword]

The club is clearly on a downward descent in the way it is run, whenever clubs start going down this road, where the securuty staff and their clique of sycophantic regulars think they are above the law, clubs run out of customers to intimidate; new customers checking the place out feel the uneasy 'this is my patch' vibe and don't go back. It's a common cycle and one recognized in this area of the leisure industry and training is provided by more professional organizations to prevent it. Much of this training is founded in treating ALL customers, friends or not, exactly the same when they are patrons of the club. Business is business. Friends are friends.

It will either be taken over by new management soon, or it will close and re-open.

On a personal note, I was always amused by the way these kinds of Korean dudes act like they think that being the big protective oppa and saving their little sisters from the big ugly foreigners is going to get them more poon.

[FistFace]

Why not buy this porcupine and let it go in the place?

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=96160

[dutchy pink]

Spitting on anyone is bad news, a bartender included. If the dude with the billyclub poured out your drink, would you have spit on him? You spit on a girl and didn't expect any physical confrontation. If you spit your drink in the big bouncer's face you know what would happen.
It did.