It’s a Friday night in Hongdae, Seoul. You’re walking down the bustling streets when all of a sudden, a Korean guy with slick back hair and a leather jacket stops you.
He’s cute. You’re intrigued. He chats you up, saying all the right things — he’s probably interested, right? Maybe. After a couple of minutes, he finally goes in for the kill.
“Are you open-minded? Do you live alone? Let’s spend the night together,” he says.
That’s a “Hongdae Guy” for you — and TikToker Sean Solo has been going viral for his parodies of them.
While his videos make us laugh, what they don’t show is there’s a deeper, darker side of this phenomenon.
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The origins of ‘Hongdae guy’
Sean started posting on social media after completing his mandatory military service through KATUSA (the Korean Army unit embedded in US forces) around May 2022.
His earlier posts were standard lifestyle fare — night outings and daily life. Then, he started parodying “Hongdae guys” amassing millions in views.
But what others outside Korea think as funny and even charming, people living in Korea think otherwise.
“Those guys might [think that] American girls are ‘open-minded’ [but these] guys are narrow-minded, you know,” Sean says in a podcast.
We spoke to the women who have studied and lived in Seoul — the top target of his parody character — to learn the truth about real “Hongdae guys”:
Kayla Watson is a graduate of Hanyang University and is currently a marketing intern in South Korea. Source: Kayla Watson
The truth about “Hongdae guys,” according to women
Kayla Watson
I hate to play into the stereotype, but it’s almost spot-on from the skits. From the black leather jacket to the way they speak, and all the way down to this unexplainable confidence they have when approaching women.
They’re often lurking around Hongdae — on the streets, in bars, and clubs — with the primary goal of finding foreign women. They believe their lines are charming, and they’ll often say something out of pocket.
Online, it’s a funny meme, but in real life, it’s pretty lame. I’ve been approached by various types of guys from Hongdae. Some are very blunt and say sexual, disrespectful things as if you’ll be instantly on board. Others put on this “hip-hop” persona, acting like they’re “down with the culture,” especially towards Black women.
A friend of mine was having a rough night in Hongdae and was crying. A random guy came up to her and asked her if she was okay. At first, it seemed like he cared — but almost immediately, he asked, “Do you want to come with me and have sex?”
It was entirely out of nowhere, as if it was a natural follow-up to comfort someone when they’re upset. It was shocking, especially when my friend was clearly in distress.
After living in Korea for years, I can immediately spot them and will just ignore them. However, they’ve become “smarter” in the sense that they sometimes differentiate between a foreign woman who lives here long-term and one who is just visiting. Sadly, they tend to target tourists more because visitors often lack awareness.
Honestly, his videos are hilarious — but also hit a little too close to home. Sometimes I can’t even watch the whole thing because it’s that accurate. Of course, not every guy in Hongdae is like that, but a good chunk are. Also, it happens online too. All of this before even saying hello. It’s just as disrespectful and bizarre online as it is in person.
Some guys will skip all basic conversation and open with, “Do you live alone?” “Let’s sleep together.” “I’ve never been with a foreigner before.”
Noorin Ansari was a former international student at Korea University. Source: Noorin Ansari
Noorin Ansari
Hongdae guys prey on foreign women. They’ll come up with poems or constantly call you pretty to flatter you. But as soon as you say no, they’ll move on to the next person without a second to waste.
These men are desperate.
I’ve heard stories of them before even coming to Korea — it was scary just listening to it. However, seeing them in action was even more frightening. They come out of nowhere, put their arms around you, and ask you where you’re from.
Give them a minute or two, and they’ll start asking you if you’re open-minded and if you live alone.
I find it funny because I experienced it before it became a meme.
One day, I was trying to get an Uber home with a friend — we were so tired and we just wanted to get home. A Korean guy started chatting to me out of nowhere. He started whispering to me, “I find foreigners in South Korea so sexy. It’s so sexy how you learn the Korean language.”
I was just like, “Okay.” Again, I was exhausted and just trying to get home. But once I stopped acknowledging him, he moved on to my friend and did the same thing to her — only she was drunk.
I started defending her and making sure nothing happened to her. He was only 19. He didn’t give up, though. He kept trying to flirt with us and even asked for my Instagram handle. I gave it to him so he could stop bothering us. The minute I got into the Uber, I blocked him.
It was weird. I don’t think Hongdae guys would do this to Korean women, but to foreign women, and I think it’s because they think we’re easy.
Also, when they ask you if you live alone, it’s most probably because they still live with their parents, even if they’re in their 30s.
They’re shameless, and I guess they just want to show off to their friends that they’ve hooked up with a foreigner. The average Korean don’t have foreign friends, unless they’ve travelled or lived abroad. So if they score a foreign woman, it’s a point in their books.
I think with Sean’s content, it can be seen as a joke to a certain extent, but most of the time, the men are predators who take advantage of drunk, even sober, foreigners. A friend of mine has had her drink spiked while clubbing in Hongdae.
Nicole Chin (writer of this article) was a former international student at Hanyang University and the University of Utah Asia Campus. Source: Nicole Chin
Nicole Chin
If you think the Hongdae guys are only using Hongdae as a hunting ground, you’re wrong. They’re also on dating platforms, such as Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge.
I was bored one day and decided to download Tinder and Bumble. It was fun at first, matching and chatting with both locals and foreigners. But after a day or two, I started to see a pattern — Korean men asking me if I lived alone.
The minute I tell them I don’t, it’s an immediate unmatch. Some stayed and carried on the conversation…but it wasn’t any better. They’d start asking me if I was open to getting a hotel room with them to spend the night with them — and they were insistent.
I asked them why they were so pressed on it, and the answer was always the same: “You’re exotic and open-minded.”
I’m mixed (Malaysian Chinese and Thai), but I don’t look like a typical Chinese, and they found it exotic. In their words, “A type of race and nationality they want to check off their list”. I was so disgusted by it that I stopped using those dating apps for the next three years of my time in South Korea.
It has happened a couple of times in person as well. I had a total stranger grab me by my arm to drag me into a club — I had no make-up on and was dressed in an oversized hoodie and baggy jeans.
Another kept trying to pick me up with this line, “넌 학생이고 난 오빠니까 마시고 싶은 거 사줄게. 제일 비싼 걸로 주문해도 돼.” (since you’re a student and I’m older than you, I’ll buy you whatever drink you want. Order an expensive one too).
The minute I showed I wasn’t interested, he went on to his next victim.
When I heard about Sean’s skit, I wasn’t interested in watching it. But when I did, I refused to watch it to the end. It was cringe, only because it was true. Seeing how many were finding it amusing didn’t sit well with me.
Karrina Pancoast was a former international student at the University of Utah Asia Campus and is currently an English Second Language Teacher in South Korea. Source: Karrina Pancoast
Karrina Pancoast
In real life, the Hongdae guys have a bit of a greasy feeling to them, even if they physically don’t look like it. It also feels a little predatory. If you walk into a club, they’re often the ones watching from the entrance, waiting for a foreign girl to walk in.
It usually starts with them saying, “You’re very beautiful, where are you from?” They’ll then show a lot of excitement and say they want to be friends with someone from your country or that they want to learn English.
I usually don’t give them enough time for them to ask me if I live alone or say any of the other well-known Hongdae guy lines. I think it’s because I tend to get away from those guys as quickly as possible that I don’t experience much of it in person, but rather online.
Almost every Korean man I’ve spoken to on a dating app has either asked me if I live alone or if I’m open-minded. I’ve also met up with a guy from a dating app who did not ask me any of those things. But rather requested to see my apartment the minute we met.
When I said no, he left quickly without even having dinner with me as we had planned to do.
It’s best to stay clear of them as they often hunt for foreign women so they can brag to their friends that they have slept with one. It’s also common for Korean men to say that STDs are a foreign thing, so they don’t get tested.
It’s perilous, and it’s especially true with Hongdae guys as they tend to be more sexually active with multiple partners.
While a night in Hongdae can be very fun, it unfortunately comes with unwanted dangers as well, all thanks to the Hongdae guys.
