Viral ‘Hongdae boy’ videos expose the fringe group of South Korean men trying to sleep with foreign women

If you’re on TikTok, you may have come across “Hongdae boys” or “Hongdae guys” recently. In a social media context, the term refers to a group of young South Korean men who prey on foreign women (particularly white women) visiting the Hongdae area in Seoul’s Mapo district.

Largely made viral by popular South Korean TikToker Sean Solo (@itsseansolo) creating parodies of these men, Hongdae boys are depicted as men who make brazen (and slightly awkward) attempts at picking up unsuspecting tourists or foreign students.

Some of these women, who are often viewed as sexually “available”, have sometimes been inspired by K-dramas or K-pop idols to visit Korea in search of the perfect South Korean boyfriend.

So what’s behind the rise of Hongdae boy videos? And is Seoul turning into a place to avoid if you’re a young female traveller? Well, no. But Sean Solo’s parodies of this recognisable type of South Korean man shouldn’t be dismissed as purely comedy.

A trend warranting further attention

Much of the funny viral Hongdae boy content is aimed squarely at foreign audiences. In fact, your average South Korean is more likely to associate the phrase “Hongdae man” (Hongdae namja) with the “Hongdae look” that showcases carefully curated streetwear inspired by hip-hop, rap and vintage elements.

Hongdae, a famous nightlife spot, is very popular with foreign visitors and South Korean students. In the 1990s it became the cradle of the underground and indie music scene, and remains a buzzing centre for arts and culture.

Come nighttime, however, it has a reputation for becoming hookup central. There are even “hunting bars” (hunting pocha) where single men and women can go to try and find a match.

While Hongdae guys are by no means representative of all Korean men (a point Sean Solo emphasises) the fact these men exist, and have become a recognisable part of Hongdae’s nightlife, speaks to serious broader issues of misogyny and gendered thinking.

Ongoing issues for South Korean women

South Korea has a reputation for being socially conservative, and K-dramas have emphasised this squeaky clean image. But in recent years, a growing number of South Korean women have spoken out about issues of sexual harassment and violence, including a crisis of digital sex crimes.

Read more: AI is fuelling a deepfake porn crisis in South Korea. What’s behind it – and how can it be fixed?

This has led to public demonstrations expanding on the global #MeToo movement.

We’ve also seen the rise of the so-called 4B movement (also called the “Four Nos”). Described as more of an individual lifestyle choice rather than an organised movement, the aim of 4B is to push back against societal standards imposed on South Korean women regarding marriage, childbirth and relationships.

As Asian studies expert Min Joo Lee notes, foreign women who are married to Korean men and living in Korea are often exoticised as dutiful housewives aspiring for “tradition”, while South Korean women are seen as troublesome and demanding.

Gender equality issues have also been used as a political football by some politicians. For instance, recently impeached President Suk Yeol Yoon’s 2022 presidential campaign relied on a narrative of male disempowerment to mobilise the vote of young, disaffected men.

Another setback came in late 2023, when the Supreme Court delivered a final verdict in a case deemed significant for the country’s #MeToo movement. It involved Seo Ji-hyun, a former prosecutor who, in 2018, filed a lawsuit seeking damages against a former male senior prosecutor who she accused of sexual harassment and abuse of power. The court dismissed her claims.

Foreign fantasies and reality

For foreign women unaware of South Korea’s gender inequality issues, and who expect the sugar-coated image of Korean men they’ve seen in K-pop or K-dramas, the reality of the hookup culture may come as a shock.

The disjuncture between reality and the foreign fantasy of South Korea has increasingly been of interest to social commentators and researchers like myself. My own research on the topic has identified a kind of “global Koreanness” that has taken on a life of its own in the imaginations of non-Korean fans overseas.

The Hongdae boy narrative is similar to the 4B movement in that it is fuelled by attention from outside South Korea. While the 4B movement was widely reported in Western media, it was driven by a relatively small group of courageous women who didn’t actually get mainstream attention in South Korea.

Nonetheless, having a spotlight on these women still amplified their struggle to fight back against gendered ideas of what’s expected of them. These are ideologies that might treat them as objects to be looked at and “consumed” (such as with K-pop idols), or expect them to prioritise marriage and childbearing, over their own careers, to address a declining population.

Hongdae boy videos, both comedic and otherwise, may have a similar effect. They’re drawing attention to the gendered expectations many South Korean women face, and the ways in which they are dismissed in their pursuit for equality.