Korea update 2014.
There are users here who've already written about this in better detail. The best details I've read on Korea came from Booshala on the
Korea 2012 data-sheet. Go and read his posts now. Korea is no different today. If anything it's gotten worse. I have also lauded the post in this very thread by Excelsior from a guy named Gorbachev, and am doing so again. From my experiences he's also correct on how it goes down.
This is more of a reflection on my experiences and some of the motions when out on the pull. Not much specialized advice on Korean women in particular, for it was here that I first became aware of Roosh V and applicably aware of the game.
Overview
Once you get here download the instant messenger app called Kakao Talk. Everyone with a smartphone will be using this. An alternative to number closing is to ask for a Kakao talk I.D. and say you want to practice your Korean/ or say you seem like you have good taste and would like her to recommend a good restaurant/ museum/ cafe/ bar/ pet-shop^^
I’m still at a pretty basic level in the game. I came to Korea to teach and pay bills, not for the women. I had some luck not long after coming here, but it wasn't until three years had passed and after getting my little chicken heart broken in two, that I really started to put myself out there. I leveraged height (191,) fashion (“gay” explanation below,) and speaking Korean to compensate and in the end my total notch count averaged out to one every other month. Most of that was in Seoul. Got blown out there way more too. I've been told that this is about half of what some guys pull and even less. I believe them. I also spent time in a few different relationships.
I remember a high school student asking me have you ever had a one night stand with a Korean girl? I lied to him and said no, but it does happen here (for the record, four... And four more same night lays with women whom I saw again.) Think about it this way- any country saturated with western culture, cheap alcohol and places for men and women to meet privately make this possible. Discretion will be useful to any foreigner. The locals seem to practice it less and less every day. I'm tired of the obnoxious way that couples act. There is an overemphasis on pda in front of others that's just really juvenile. I'll admit to it being an issue of insecurity on my part, but either way don't be that guy.
Getting around
Taxis- base fare starts at 3k won (1000 won being slightly under $1.) If you're central 10k won should take you as far as 5 km even at night when the base fare goes up 20%. I have dropped 30-40k won several times before when I took girls from Seoul to the boondocks where I used to live, but that was either with groups or after a night of drinking where there's no question between you and her why she is going all the way back to yours. Taxi drivers in Korea are generally honest. The one place to be cautious of them is at the airport.
But why take a taxi if you're not bringing someone back? Subways are great too! Fast, cheap (1050won+) and easy to navigate. All the maps and station signs have English under the Korean. The last trains are usually a few minutes after midnight.
Buses are usually only in Korean, save for some announcements made in English while on board regarding upcoming stations. Some people have trouble navigating them but once I learned how to read Hangeul I found them easy. Just ask the bus driver 'location name + gayo?' before boarding to make sure, and then listen out for your stop.
Setup
Setting up a date by text is basically the same as it would be elsewhere. Don't waste time trying to have a conversation. Ask about her plans for the week on the second or third of your texts. Korean girls like to say that they're busy but the truth is that Korea may be the greatest country in the world at merely appearing busy. Suggest to her that what you're doing is more fun (go do something fun!) than her "work." Be prepared for a lot of flaking.
Where to go
From experience, the two biggest outdoor date spots have been...
Yeoui-naru park (a river front) and Cheonggye-cheon (creek in the middle of downtown.) Of course you only go to either in good weather. Because these are are the places every Korean couple goes to, for you to take a girl to either, especially to Cheonggye-cheon at night, sends a message to her that you're not interested in being friends or just doing language exchange. These spots are best left for a second date or later.
Go ahead and take her out on a dinner date. Why? Because Korean barbecue is delicious and you have no choice but to order for two people anyway. Might as well invite someone out to enjoy the meal with. Customers in a bbq restaurant sit at a table with a built-in grill and are given raw meat that they are expected to cook themselves. It's a good time to challenge your girl on her cooking skills. You can get some quality meat, and all of the sides that Korean meals are known for, with a bottle of the local liquor to boot, for around 30k won.
I can't say much on specific venues and locales. The same venue that was dead on Friday was a blast on Saturday. A bar I thought was too gritty my first year here became my favorite place in Seoul on Saturday night, only to have it close down mere days after I moved to the city. Korea gives you more room for improvisation than in Japan via cheaper taxis, love hotels and even dvd rooms (a popular place for teenagers to get their horizontal relief.) A few brief words on the three areas that every last person who has been to Seoul knows about...
1- Hongdae
The university crowd, but all sorts of people hang out here. Start at the park a block away from the university, weather permitting. It's a great place to get started and approach some locals and foreigners. Ratios have been terrible the last few times I went out though. Like 80/20 terrible. Hongdae used to be known as the artsy/hipster area to hang out but most of that scene has moved to neighboring Hapjeong and Sangsu.
2- Itaewon
this is the most well known foreign area in Korea, and probably the only area where the people running the shops can speak English. The MP's are on the lookout for the soldiers who break curfew. Said soldiers have all gone to Hongdae, so Itaewon has once again become popular with Korean's who once feared the ornery soldier presence there. Even some of the posh Gangnam crowd comes here now. Itaewon is notoriously difficult to find a taxi on a weekend night after the trains stop running. Also worth noting that there is only one hotel in the neighborhood. Plan accordingly.
3- Gangnam- there are plenty of bars here but this area is usually the place for ballers spittin' that club game if they've got it. The usual strategy was to go before 11, pay a 10k won cover instead of 30, get your wristband, pregame at a bar (or even outside of the convenience store if the nights weather permits) and comeback to the club later. Some guys swear by Gangnam because of the quality of women, but I'm not a fan.
One thing that a lot of Korean guys do right is to bail on venues (assuming you don't didn't have to pay cover.) I've seen many a local spend not ten seconds in the door and upon assessing a dead venue or a sausage-fest (more of those everyday it seems,) walk right back out. No shame or uncomfortable obligation to stay there if they cant give you what you're looking for. This is especially prudent considering many spots are designed for groups. You sit a a table with your group and mingling with others is kept to a minimum because... well because Confucianism. Even more so if the place has booths where you can't see the other people there. I like bars with darts or pool because you can always approach an even pair of girls and ask if they'd like to play a game with you and your wing.
I knew a guy who would game on the subway. I've done my share of approaches there as well. But these days the girls board the train and face away from the passengers and use their phones for the entire trip. Those seated will be doing the same, heads buried in their Kakao Talk or their social networking. In any given subway car virtually all women will be doing this. The ones who aren’t are old enough to be your grandmother.
This isn't just an issue on the subway. To say that smartphone addiction is epidemic here feels like an understatement.
Any cellphone game you got will be gold in this country. I've approached with a line in Korean written on my phone and asked her “is the correct way to write this?” Also approached girls about what they were listening to, and if she knew any good Korean music that wasn't K-pop. You can ask for directions too but Koreans aren't too helpful in giving them.
All is not lost if you find yourself outside of Seoul. I've lived in the burbs, and even further out than that. Nightlife in some shape or form can be found near almost any university, the issue being...
Language-
The further you are from Seoul, the number of Koreans who can speak anything resembling communicable English will nosedive. Do you need to speak Korean to pull? No, but it definitely helps. It helped me to be able to pull in cases where I otherwise wouldn't have. The alphabet can be locked down in a few weeks- some say days but that's only if you're in the country and reading everything in sight. From there you learn the basic sentence structure- subject/object/verb. ALL sentences end in either a verb or an adjective. Learn some key phrases and the two most important verbs, to have and to do. Once you know 'to do' you can turn a number of nouns into verbs relatively easily. My grammar is still terrible but everyone gets the idea.
A major caveat is that while I'm conversational, I'm not good enough to function professionally, which will only work against you with anyone who has no interest in talking to a foreigner. With the corresponding increase in foreigners and tourists whose first language is not English, the number of Koreans willing to accommodate your broken Korean drops everyday, and it will soon be where your Korean should be enough to communicate without issue or you just speak to them in English. To be fair, my pronunciation is deceptively good, and so that may play in role in the reactions I get when my abilities don't match up.
Race-
Here we go, the reason that turns a lot of guys off to this place. No race trolling intended, but experience has shown me that the ideal type of foreign man here is- tall, slim, white, light-colored hair, handsome and fashionable. Might as well call me a height and appearance troll too! The ideal local is tall, slim, handsome, fashionable and of means. These guys don't usually have much trouble making things happen.
It's true that being a westerner in this country had value maybe ten or fifteen years ago. Today your social capital here is zero. If you're not white then it's less than that and you have your work cut out for you. Real talk. I lost count of how many times I've gotten lackluster responses compared to white friends I was with whom spoke little or no Korean. To reiterate what's said in the Gorbachev post, it's not that uncommon to see a good looking Korean girl with a white guy, but save for how it goes down in Itaewon, there is an absolute dearth of black guys being able to do the same.
There's been a popular show on tv here lately called 비정상회담 (lit. abnormal summit) featuring young foreign men who speak business level Korean. One of them is a guy from Ghana named Sam Ochiri- well dressed, classy and outgoing. All those guys on the show did endorsements like all Korean celebrities do, and Sam kept his to clothing retailers and language schools while his white counterparts on the show were happy to, in addition, do ads for pizza and fried chicken. I predict that any black guy in the future who gets laid here will have him (and any other black guy lucky enough to follow in that mold) to thank. Don't hold your breath waiting for it.
As a white guy you have a head and shoulders advantage over any other foreigner here. That said, you also have the burden of being the target of envy and cock-blocking from the local men (and women) more than anyone else.
In defense of Koreans, most of the xenophobia (and interest) is because of what they see in media. There's always some news break on MBC (the Korean network equivalent of FOX News) about foreigners caught fighting or with drugs or molesting minors. It only takes one of us to fuck up- one bad apple spoils the whole tree.
Of course, race isn’t the only factor to consider, and you can make it easier on yourself with...
Fashion-
This is by far the easiest leverage to manipulate in your favor. Especially for darker men, good fashion will give some girls who would otherwise disqualify you the perception that you're in a higher social class than represented by your skin color. It's a joke how some guys look walking out of the house. Had a few girls here tell me that they thought I was gay when they first saw me. Why? The association with gays is of being fashionable and of a higher social circle than the average Tom Dick and Harry. She knows your straight but your “gay” fashion makes you seem safer than the guy who looks like he came out of prison this afternoon.
A lot of guys know that Itaewon and Hongdae are the places to go to find Korean girls who may be curious about foreigners. So they all go and after many weekends of trying, a few of them eventually get laid. Most of them don't though, and one of the reasons why is that they wear the same shit they wore back on campus in armpit Canada or perineum USA. Baggy cargo pants, sandals and a horseshoe rimmed cap says to the women that you have not moved up in the world beyond your student years. Many of the foreigners here are clueless about this because they came off the boat and tethered themselves to the first 4 or 5 that thought they were cute. Or they were blue pill incels back home and resigned themselves to being the same thing here.
I don't think there's a science to it, nor is there anything about good fashion over here that comes off as gay (Koreans are just so used to foreigners looking sloppy.) Wear clothes that fit. Stay away from loose fits and loud colors. You don't have to wear skinny jeans but slim fit reigns supreme here. Tuck your shirt in. Conform to what the local guys here do. No need to wear anything flashy- if you're not from here you already stand out enough. As has been said, dress for the kind of girl you're looking for. Among locals it's mostly either hipster, professional or a mix of the two.
As for the body types that you should aspire to... All things equal, skinny guys with fashion can pull just fine, burly men can too but will have to put in a little more work. Slim men with definition will blow them both out. Fat guys are fucked. Is any of that a surprise?
A notice on pulling...
If you're an attractive man and/or your game hand is strong, you may get accused of being a playboy. Simply deny and proceed. She probably knows if you are but chances are she's willing to go along with it. I don't think you lose frame with a girl here if you ask her to do something (cook the meat at the restaurant, hail a taxi, ask for her help translating something) every now and then. They know what they're doing, just like when you invite them out to drink they know what you're thinking and if they're interested being under the influence of alcohol is a perfect excuse for how she let her passions get the better of her judgment.
Horray for 'plausible deniability' in Asia!
Right up until they were on my bed I've had women play that frame. Just keep leading and moving forward. Bang applies just as well for Korea once they are in your apartment. If she doesn't want to take it that far, she will stop you. Some may simply get their things and leave. Has happened to me a few times.
If you're just traveling here, consider renting a spot on air-bnb. I haven't had a first bang outside of my apartment in well over a year now. Going to a hotel takes away your plausible deniability! But if you know for certain then go for it.
A win, a fail and some numbers...
win
A highlight of the past year was with one of the baddest girls I ever pulled from online. Had an athletic body (she was a personal trainer,) and was full in the right places. Flaked on me for months, until I finally moved to Seoul and I called her instead of trying to set everything up by text. We met in my neighborhood, did dinner, drinks, darts (nice way to make physical contact along with pool- guiding them on how to properly take a shot) and went back to mine on the first night, all inside of six hours. It's worth noting that less than ten percent of our conversation that night was in English. Not so much a testament to my game (or language ability) as it was just luck and persistence (DHV by moving to Seoul played a huge role as well.) The takeaway from this was that sometimes you have to just see an opportunity and pounce.
fail
One of the worst (best) fails I had was doing a street approach on a girl late in Hongdae (she was drunk, and this was before I lived in Seoul.) I should've pushed for an insta-date right there but got her number and agreed to meet a few days later. I sat there and watched her text the whole time, make fun of my Korean (she lived in California for a year) and take phone calls without excusing herself. She cut the date short after one of those calls. I then suggested to her that she pay for lunch and as soon as she did, thanked her and walked out of the restaurant. One of my friends pointed out to me that the worse attitudes came from women who were on the wrong side of 30. Why bother?
numbers...
How many dates/meetings (including the initial approach) until I get the bang?
Usually three, sometimes two. Four on a few occasions, and with the hottest girl I ever pulled here, five (certain that it could have been done in four though, as by day five she was the one to suggest a hotel- I was such a nice guy back then.) Any girl who even agrees to a second date knows what's possible at the end.
How many days?
My average time was three weeks. While it takes stronger game and more leverage to shorten the number of dates/meetings to the first bang, if she really likes you, the time-frame can be shortened. She may only wait until date 4 but instead of four weeks you can make it happen in two. Western girls, especially the ones who refuse to touch a Korean guy, will let you beat it up in much less time.
What did a first kiss mean?
80 percent of the time it meant that I would be banging her the same day. If back at mine or in a hotel the first kiss initiated foreplay (discretion in public for the win!) Without the appropriate comfort however, it could also mean that she'd make me wait until the next meeting or that she'd leave and never contact me again.
English fever!
A third of my bangs had the explicit or implicit purpose of learning English from me.
Bad news if you're rolling solo...
The quality of your opportunities will usually go down. Attractive women have high shields up even in the daytime. Not so high if with a friend. The best quality I ever pulled was in groups/social circle. Girls here roll in packs. Save for a stroke of luck or two, the most attractive girls I ever pulled solo was online. But that's very time consuming and unless you pipeline hard before coming, I don't recommend it.
Speaking of online...
When online- tall, white, handsome and fashionable is king. Many Korean women will explicitly state something to this effect, and half who say nothing in their profile won't be interested in foreigners period. Forty percent of my bangs came from online and while I did alright, it was both after being able to text in Korean and moving to Seoul from the boonies. Before that, it was just awful.
Final thoughts.
Like women the world over it's hard to say no to a potential experience with a confident, socially savvy man. As has been said before, Koreans are simply more discreet and pragmatic than their counterparts in the Anglo-sphere. Discretion is your friend over here. The desire to sleep around does exist for a few. You can thank the influence of the west for that...
Somewhere down the line you can also thank that influence should feminism ever spiral out of control like it has there.
With most girls you are playing um, boyfriend game- if only in show. Leave the asshole game that you use on American girls where it belongs and focus on being funny, nice, playful but of course persistent with the light contact- high fives, hand comparisons and readings, forearm touching, leading by the hand etc. You can do some minor escalation in a bar. More-so if you get her to any private place (karaoke, dvd-room.) And for the tenth time, don't forget to be discreet out in the street.
So to recap...
Approach wherever or whenever you're comfortable. Any opener you got. Asking for translation help is better than asking wether she speaks English because Koreans are fiercely proud of their country and language. They only use the barbaric growling you call language as a tool for work, ha.
“Excuse me, can you tell me what this says in English?”
“it says Korea Telecom welcomes you to Korea”
“Oh okay great, so there's nothing about scary high roaming charges or anything?”
“No (smiles)”
“You speak English well!”
“Oh no no, I don't.”
“It's better than my Korean haha- btw I'm Daniel, what's your name?”
“My name is Yu-na.”
“Nice to meet you Yu-na...”
Roosh's text guide is reliable here. When a girl flakes on you it usually means your value wasn't high enough (I've told some DHV lies to girls about plans to check, and sure enough, the replies lit up my phone in a matter of minutes.) Or sometimes it's just because her dog died.
Boyfriend or social circle game + persistence + discretion = profit. If by the third meeting you haven't kissed her, you are probably her ride on the free English teacher/ free food / self-validation express for this month.
Have fun. Be silly, poke fun at yourself and at her. Grade your language, speak slowly, clearly and use lots of gestures- it's Korea. Play dumb and tell her you want her to be your Korean tour guide. Drink, go to karaoke (noraebang- 노래방,) go play darts, play pool, go to the batting cages, to screen golf, go to the park, to the traditional markets, on a picnic, take pictures of her, let her take selfies with your phone, draw a mustache on her face and send it to her, etc.
As has been said before, competition in Korea compared to other countries is beyond rough. A scant few will say different but the majority will agree. I have been here too long to not have anything to talk about.