Accommodation in Mokpo, from My Daily Sports.
The Korea Times---in what has been common over the past year---has an unattributed, poorly-written "English" translation on their site, based off a Yonhap translation of an Italian article, about accommodation in Jeollanam-do during the Grand Prix in Yeongam county.
Italia’s largest-selling newspaper launched a harsh criticism on South Korea’s overall lack of preparations as the host to the Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix, including not enough adequate lodgings for participants, but enough love motels in the vicinity they found inadequate to stay.
Corriere della Sera, a Milan-based daily, on Friday, ran an article, titled “F1 teams tumble down to sex motels.”
It also cited blogger Grrr Traveler's June 2010 post "Finding love in the Korean Love Motel":
The “ubiquity” of love motels in South Korea are often cited in web blogs of foreign travelers to the nation. For example, Christine Ka'aloa, who runs a blog, “Grrrl Traveler,” said: “Love motels are primarily geared for couples wanting private loving away from the stern eyes of their parents … maybe even wives!”The overall gist of the article, if there even is one, is to point out what's perceived as lack of preparations. The article concludes, awkwardly:
Although the Italian newspaper gave a high mark for Yeongam in South Jeolla Province for its scenery, yet as the venue for the event, it gave a rather discrediting remark.
“The reason this site was chosen as the venue for F1 when the facilities were completed just days before the actual event, was likely due to the sponsorship of South Korean conglomerate companies,” it said, according to Yonhap.
Problems with accommodation aren't new---they were reported in the Korean press up to the event---and aren't unique to the Grand Prix. The same worries accompany preparations for the 2012 World Expo in Yeosu, and led to many love motels being renamed "World Inns" to deal with the lack of decent accommodation in Korea prior to the 2002 World Cup. But these problems are something that probably should have been anticipated in the four-year run-up to the event: regional population centers like Mokpo and Gwangju lack world-class accommodation, to say nothing of a rural county an hour away from both.
Statue of Liberty atop the Jasmine Motel in Gwangju, from the Kwangju Ilbo.
Koreans can be sensitive about love motel talk in the press. Last year a foreign Gwangju News writer collected pictures of distinctive motel facades in the city and wrote
In Gwangju, the neon lights of a love motel are never far from view. Young couples use love motels to enjoy a romantic night away from parental scrutiny. Love motels are also a rendezvous point for extramarital affairs. Like beauty pageant contestants, love motels decked out in exotic attire vie for attention along the Gwangjucheon waterfront.
She was criticized in the Korean-language Jeonnam Ilbo for spreading misinformation about Korea among the English-language magazine's foreign readers:
해당 기사를 작성한 사람은 미국인 밀리암 호씨. 하지만 그는 광주에 온지 두 달밖에 안 된 것으로 알려졌다. 한국문화에 대해 제대로 이해하지 못한 외국인의 눈에 비친 광주가 아무런 여과 없이 광주를 소개하는 영문 잡지에 실린 것이다.
Criticism of this sort hits on two levels: pointing out that "love motels" exist, and demonstrating an understanding of what they're often used for.
The "forced to stay in brothels" theme is still circulating among English-language articles. From the Express:
Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel was sympathetic. He said: “What the authorities could probably finish in the future is the hotel situation for teams and you journalists. I’ve heard a few stories.”
Those “few stories”? Many prostitutes have been shooed away from this city but some remain and even vending machines lurk in hotel corridors, offering more than a sweet treat.
From a Yahoo! Sport story "F1 teams forced to stay in brothels":
Formula One teams have been forced to stay in brothels due to a lack of hotel rooms at the Korean Grand Prix.
Hotels around the Yeongam track, which is some 350 miles away from South Korean capital Seoul, have been overwhelmed by demand.
And while drivers and team bosses have found normal rooms, many staff and pit crew have been forced into £150-a-night 'love hotels' where they have reported finding unsanitary conditions - and even piles of used condoms beneath the beds.
"One of the Sauber mechanics was asked if he also wanted a girl for the week," one F1 insider told The Sun.
"And one of the hospitality girls is convinced her room was 'let out' for a few hours while she was away."
And the Jalopnik blog entry taken to task on this site on Saturday:
Formula 1 booked journalists and even teams into Korea's famous "love hotel" rooms for this weekend's Korean Grand Prix. Some are complaining of used condoms under their beds and dildo-vending machines.
A shortage of rooms for the already dicey Korean Grand Prix has forced teams to stay in brothels — dubbed "love hotels" — for the week. Apparently, the staff is so used to people only staying for an hour that they're still letting out rooms to Johns (or Jungs, maybe?).
4 comments:
I just returned from the Korea F1 adventure and there were positive and negative aspects about it. Though the weather on Sunday had a huge influence the event went rather well in getting the race done.
Yet when it came to the shuttle buses from the main grandstand to the parking places there were problems Saturday evening as many people were able to visit the pits of the teams and get autographs from the drivers. Yet after this event was done there were no shuttle buses from the main grandstand to the other transfer point that allows people to take another shuttle bus to downtown Mokpo. The volunteers or the security staff didn't consider that there would be people interested in meeting the drivers and seeing the pits up close. From the main grandstand to the shuttle point where you get the transportation to Mokpo is at least a 25 minute walk. Some of you might say that is not much but explain that to the mothers who brought their kids in strollers and to the elderly. The guy who had the security jacket disappeared after being confronted about no more shuttle buses. I could say that he wanted to avoid the problem, but that is no excuse to the crowd who had expected shuttles to run to at least 6pm on Saturday.
And in regards to the accommodation situation, a lot of the spectators stayed in the Mokpo area where there are a lot of love motels. Similar to the area near Haeundae beach. And there where many room saloons in the area much to the disappointment to my Korean wife. The problem is that the hotel industry in Korea has a very different concept than in our homeland. Any international event such as PIFF, APEC, now F1 and soon to be G-20 fail to provide adequate accommodation. I remember from APEC in 2005 that there were many problems with hotel space in Pusan for the delegates. G-20 would have an easier time to a degree because there are more hotels that cater to foreign guests, but I would say that the price is steep. The issue is that thought there are 5 star hotels here, the average person who wants to attend the event can’t or won’t afford it. So, what is the next thing to do? There are plenty of resorts in Korea but they need to be reserved months in advance. Love motels provide simple and fast accommodation but may create a different impression about the city that most residents would rather soon to forget. But when the Kim family goes on vacation with their 2.4 kids, where do they stay other than the 5 star hotel? At a love motel? For years there have been talk of creating hotels at a lower price range. This could increase the amount of tourism from other countries and for the foreigners who reside here who don’t make over 3 million won a month.
If Korea wants to host international events then they need to plan for it better. F1 one was a success in creating a race venue up to F1 standards. But spectators are the ones who foot the bill, wait in the rain, and commute from across town or the country. The biggest problem with Korea’s F1 was the weather, I believe. Over an hour delay caused many people to leave early for their buses back home. Mokpo has a good start. Now they need to fine tune the other parts.
I lived in Yeongam when I first arrived in 2004. There is nothing there. I can't even remember a love motel near the bus station, but perhaps there were. It is hicksville in any case. I got out the second year.
Aren't there any pensions around Mokpo? (Pensions are small cottages that Koreans rent out...That's actually where the Kim's with their 2.4 kids prefer to stay. They are usually set up in the country sides and have kitchenette units and bathrooms, they can be just like apartments or even small houses.) There are usually dozens of them in coastal towns.
Thanks for this post & the comment. From where I stood (too close), the article was hard to make out. And I remembered what you said of the Gwangju writer in the last post.
Fantastic journalism on your part as usual-- filled in all the necessary gaps where words should've been written.
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