Korea has many night-time activities. Although the military-imposed midnight curfew has long since vanished, most restaurants and bars are still required to close their doors at midnight. However, certain hotels and designated "tourist" clubs can stay open later, and some clubs remain open illegally, posting sentries with cell phones outside to unlock the doors for late night partiers. In 1997, Itaewon was designated a Special Tourist Area, allowing many establishments to remain open 24 hours. See the Travel Guide for more information about other popular areas.
Coffee & Tea Shops
Coffee shops and tea rooms (tabangs) differ somewhat from their Western counterparts. Cups of coffee generally cost W3,000 and up, with no refills. However, customers can stay and chat as long as they like. Many coffee shops have waitresses who will come to your home or office with a thermos full of coffee, then sit and talk with you while you drink. Many are willing to do even more for their customers.
Dancing
Night clubs and "rock cafes" abound in Korea. Whereas a trip to a night club in a hotel or other up scale club will set you back a minimum of W100,000 just to sit at a table, going to a rock cafe will only cost about half as much. Korean clubs expect you to buy a minimum amount of drinks and over-priced food when you sit at a table. If you want to dance cheaply, it is much better to frequent clubs near U.S. military installations which just charge you for what you drink.
Drinking
Not so long ago, Korea had 2 types of beer: Crown and OB (Oriental Brewery). Nowadays, each company has spawned a number of specialty beers, and imported beers are becoming more popular, giving beer drinkers a wider selection from which to choose. Soju (a potato-based liquor) and makgeolli and dongdongju (rice-based liquors) are popular among Koreans, usually drunk while eating anju (finger food side dishes, such as peanuts, popcorn, or dried squid and fish). For a wide variety of traditional Korean alcohols, visit the Korea Folk Liquor Museum in Kyonggi Province.
Eating
One of the best ways to meet the locals is to pull up a stool at a pochangmacha- an outdoor food stall, usually on wheels so the owner can move it easily to different locations. They usually open up shortly before dusk near river fronts, college districts, and shopping areas. No matter what the weather or temperature, these little stalls always do a brisk business.
Hostess Bars
Also called Room Salons, these establishments cater to groups of men who want to have female companionship while they drink. The young girls are very attentive to their clients and a small group can easily spend over a million won in one setting. Whether the girls do more than just talk depends on the establishment, the girls, and the price.
Slightly different are the "juicy bars" found near U.S. military camps. These cater mostly to foreigners, with clients buying overpriced drinks (8,000- 10,000 won or more for a drink that usually contains little or no alcohol) for the girls. Many uninitiated to the scene have thought they were buying true love with 4 or 5 drinks, only to come back the next day and find the girl hanging all over the next person to come in the door.
Karaoke & Singing
Koreans love to sing! No matter where you go, you can always find at least one noraebang (singing room). Most offer the same selection of songs, with a rather limited supply of older foreign songs. If you go with a bunch of Koreans, you will be forced to sing. Learn a couple of Korean songs and really impress your hosts! A dallanjujeom combines a noraebang with a hostess bar setting. Patrons take turns singing, like in singing rooms. While they are not singing, they can chat up the friendly girls or women who sit with them. To help you practice, check out YesAsia to buy Korea's hottest pop music.
Movies
The popularity of Western films, especially from Hollywood, far exceeds that for Korean films, often creating friction between the Korean film industry and cinemas who want to make a profit. With the exception of an occasional film festival for foreigners or a special event at the Seoul Arts Center, Korean movies are shown in their native language. Imported movies are shown with Korean subtitles, and blockbusters are usually released in Korea shortly after their home country openings. Korean censors have a bad (and well-deserved) reputation for making gaping cuts in some movies. You can also find many Korean DVDs with English subtitles at YesAsia.
Shopping
Many shopkeepers at Korea's large, open-air markets do their wholesale buying in the wee hours of the morning, starting around midnight or 1:00 a.m. See the Shopping section for more details. In addition, many street vendors stay open long past dusk, especially in Itaewon.
