Seoul, South Korea
Bars, Nights & Clubs
**DIRECTIONS TO THE LESBIAN NIGHTCLUB AREA**
Take the subway and get out at Hongik University Station. Go out exit 5 and you will see a KFC (yup, they’ve even got Kentucky Fried Chicken in Korea!) Go right up the street next to KFC and take the second right. This street is known as the 'walking street'. Walk along until you come to a busy street (you will see a Starbucks on the right—Koreans love coffee and it is sold everywhere in the city, even in little vending machines in the subway.)
Cross the street and continue going in the same direction. The street will join with couple more streets in a weird intersection where you will see the huge white Prince Edward singing room on the left and a mushroom soup "tent" on the right. Keep walking straight in the same direction. You will pass another huge white singing room called the Luxury 'Su' on the right and come to another busy street. There you will see a large 'wavy' shaped building on the right and a 'Buy the Way' convenience store on the left (and cars parked randomly in the middle.) The wavy shaped building is called Sang Sang Ma Dang, but the only English you'll see on it is a small sign saying "Art Square".
It is from this spot that you follow all of the directions indicated in the individual bar listings below.
Bar W
Not to be mistaken with the W Bar in Seoul’s W Hotel, Bar W is just for women. It’s a small, friendly cocktail bar with a teeny area for dancing. This is one of the cool, laid back lesbian places in Seoul. You may find a bit of English spoken here.
To find the bar, cross the street at the crosswalk in front of the wavy building and continue forward. W is on the right less than a block away.
Tel: 02 337 7117
www.wbar.co.kr
Guwal or 9 Wal
The literal translation of the name of this bar is “September.” It’s a small friendly cocktail/beer/soju/wine bar and the lovely owner speaks impeccable English. The food served here is also pretty good.
To find 9 Wal, continue one building past Bar W (see above) and turn right. 9 Wal is on the 3rd floor of the first building around the corner. You will see a black sign with a flower and Korean writing indicating the entrance.
Tel: 02 322 3111
Labrys
Another women-owned and run establishment, for ladies only. This is a huge, and very popular lesbian nightclub with drinking and dancing. The English is a bit hit and miss.
To find Labrys, from the wavy building you turn left and walk up the street until you come to a big intersection. Turn left and walk until you come to the Krispy Creme building (!) The club is located on the 8th floor of the Krispy Creme building (which makes me giggle every time I think of this!) I've included a link below that has a map on how to get here.
Tel: 02 333 5276
www.seoulsisters.org/bars_clubs.htm
Lesbos
This is the oldest lesbian club in Korea, and like Labrys it is a huge, very popular nightclub playing top-40 dance music. It gets pretty packed here on weekends, and you may find a few people who speak English. Their website is in Korean only and it’s also a bit out of date, but the club is still open.
From the wavy building, turn right and walk down the street to the 3rd crosswalk (count the one directly in front of the wavy building.) Turn right and then take the first left down a small hill. Take the first right and walk straight until you see the Lesbos sign on the right. Both links below have maps on how to get there.
Tel: 02 3142 7873
www.seoulsisters.org/bars_clubs.htm
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I have been here twice and have had a good time. I have danced with some ladies and find the people friendly. The crowd tends to be univ. students.... beauties!!! Drinks are about $5 to $10.
seoul mello on Feb 11, 2008
Manyeo
English for “the Witch”, this is mid-sized, sit-down lesbian lounge/club. There may be a little bit of English spoken here if you’re lucky. The Manyeo website has a map on how to get there, but it’s in Korean only. The SeoulSisters site has a map in English.
Walk past Labrys (see above) and take the first left. Walk up the street andtake the first left again. Manyeo is directly behind the Krispy Kreme building. There is sign with a cat on it indicating the entrance to Manyeo.
www.mawoman.co.kr
www.seoulsisters.org/bars_clubs.htm
Pink Button
One of the newer dyke clubs in town in the Hangdae/Hapjeong district, and probably the most popular lesbian dance spot in Seoul right now. It can get super-packed on the weekend and can be quite noisy. Great music, good vibe and lots of English spoken. Cover charge is usually 5,000 or 10,000 won to get in.
There are two different ways to get to Pink Button, depending upon which subway station you exit from. For the first way, follow the general indications I’ve described at the top of this section. From the wavy building turn right and walk down the street to the 3rd crosswalk (same as going to Lesbos). Turn left and walk down the street (a few short blocks) until you see Pink Button on the left. It’s located in the basement of the Fissler building.
This second way is a bit easier if you’re going directly to the club, but not helpful if you’re checking out the other clubs along the way. Take subway Line #2 or Line #4 to Hapjeong station and take exit #3. Walk two blocks until you pass the Samsung building. You will see a flight attendant academy called ANC on the corner right before the Pink Button building with a painting of an airplane on the wall. The Fissler building is on the right. There will be a sign that says "Pink Button B1."
Tel: 02 323 6668
Queen
Unlike all of the lesbian bars above, Queen is one of the more popular boy bars in Seoul's gay village, referred to as "homo hill". Queen attracts a fair number of ex-pats, including women.
To get to homo hill, take subway Line 6, (that’s the brown line), to Itaewon station. When you exit the subway, look for the Coffee Bean. When standing outside of it, with your back to it, walk to the right. At the first stoplight, keep walking straight across the crosswalk. On the other side of the street, turn right. You will see a 7-11. Keep walking. The next street will be a small street that goes up a hill. This is Homo Hill (told you the directions can get confusing!) One small note of caution though… one of these cross streets is considered “Prostitution Hill”, so if you get propositioned, you might be on the wrong street. And of course, since these streets can be dark, it’s a good idea to use street smarts.
You can also check out the Utopia link below for a map of homo hill
www.utopia-asia.com/womkor.htm
The Bar Bliss
Bar Bliss is the oldest gay bar in the gay boy village around Itaewon. This place is made for men, but ex-pat lezzies also drop in for a drink. The owner, Ted Park, is hip to the Seoul homo scene and you can ask him for a gay bar map of Itaewon.
72-32 Itaewon, Yongsan (in the center of Itaewon shopping area)
Visit the Utopia website indicated below for a map with more info. Make sure to scroll down quite a bit until you see the map.
www.utopia-asia.com/womkor.htm
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