Gay korean spa
[Herald Interview] 'Spa Night' director opens up about gay trial
JEONJU, North Jeolla Province -- Director Andrew Ahn came to Korea to spark a conversation.
His film, “Spa Night,” depicts David, a second-generation Korean-American operational with his parents at their Korean restaurant. When the restaurant closes, David surreptitiously works at a Korean spa -- instead of studying to go in university -- to help the family. There he notices for the first time the spa’s role in secretive homosexual hookups, just as he begins considering his have identity.
“I hope that this film can bring light to an issue (homosexuality) that doesn’t procure talked about so much in Korean culture,” Ahn said.
The director was recently in Seoul and at the Jeonju International Film Festival seeking Korean distribution for his first feature film. The Korea Herald sat down with him at the festival on May 3.
“What’s really special about screening here at Jeonju is that this is the country that my parents left to have me. ... They gave up their life here,” Ahn said. “My family here in Korea, they gave up their brothers and sisters and sons and daughters to America. ... I hope watching this film
Seoul Gay Saunas
Why are saunas trendy in South Korea?
With roots in the Joseon Dynasty, South Koreans have long visited "jjimjilbang" (heating room) as a place for bathing, relaxing, and community bonding. These 24/7 gender-segregated saunas offer a range of amenities beyond characteristic steam rooms and showers. Patrons can unwind on heated floors, take in TV lounges, or catch up among mineral clay areas. Many feature nap rooms, fitness facilities, outdoor terraces, and snack bars serving common remedies like ginger tea.
Today, these equal facilities and traditions persist, even at gay saunas in Seoul. But visitors are likely to find more at these particular establishments, including dark rooms and play areas.
Also visit our Lgbtq+ Cruise Clubs in Seoul page.
Seoul Homosexual Saunas
He's (Hyundae Sauna)
2/F, 131-36 Itaewon, Yongsan, Seoul, South Korea
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The main gay sauna in Itaewon gay district. Former Hyundae Sauna, now He
It is Friday night. Down one alley of a busy shopping and amusement district of Seoul, juvenile men move through what appear to be closed doors of a dilapidated building. A slow trickle of customers — some dressed in suits, others as hipsters — come in the inconspicuous establishment, searching to unwind after the weekly grind. Welcome to one of Seoul’s many gay saunas.
The traditional sauna is everywhere in South Korea. They are very much part of the modern South Korean landscape. Parents take their children to bathhouses to acquire a good scrub and soak. And the drain area is where families can rest, gather, and socialise while sipping a refreshingly cold and pleasant beverage, known as sikhye.
But saunas are sometimes more than just places to relax. There one can literally strip down, discarding one’s name, status, and social markers, freeing oneself from people’s gazes or judgement, and becoming just a naked, anonymous body. Whatever strains or pressures life may bring, the sauna can be a place of freedom, as I discovered in one such for gay men.
In Seoul alone, there are approximately twenty such establishments, with others scattered nationwide. Many
The Secret, Rebellious Planet of Cruising in Korean Spas
Subtlety is the name of the game when it comes to cruising at a Korean spa. Eye contact is key. So is making your dick evident, perhaps with a slight adjusting of the region. “It could be interpreted totally innocently, but if the other guy responds by adjusting himself right after you execute, that’s kind of a signal to make more apparent ‘adjustments,’” writes one anonymous man in a forum thread.
A Korean spa, after all, isn’t the same thing as a gay bathhouse or a secret sex club, which feature coded entries, membership requirements and a more explicit appetite for sex. A Korean spa is a legitimate ethnic business in which individuals, couples and families access for a petty fee, then congregate in a mix of shared and gender-segregated spaces. The former are usually communal dry steam rooms and recreational areas to nap and relax. The latter feature heated tubs and dripping saunas, and are designed for packed nudity — there are often rules against wearing underwear or bathing trunks.
“They’re almost spiritual,” another man comments about K-spas. “But discretion is the identify of the game so follow the rules, yeah? Cruising i