The Korean practice of “booking”

Typically, around four or five men will sit down at a table and be served expensive whiskey and fruit.  They are assigned a waiter, who will go around the other tables to find a group of women, whom they bring over to the men’s table…The waiter does this in return for a tip.  The larger the tip, the prettier the women he will bring.

…Waiters maintain lists of attractive women’s phone numbers and will call them up and offer free, or very cheap, tables and drinks for them and their friends.  This is more than compensated for by the price men will pay.  Men will happily lay out 150,000 won (almost US$150) each in table fees and tips.  Despite the cost, some men go very often.  In fact, there is an expression, night-jukdoli, for a man addicted to booking and nightclubs.  The female equivalent is a night-juksooni.

That is from Daniel Tudor’s very good book, Korea: The Impossible Country.

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