SEOUL — As the disco lights spin, the young woman belts out the final line of the song and the room falls silent. There is no applause.
21-year-old Lee Seung Hyun is alone at her weekly singing session at a coin noraebang — one of Korea’s ubiquitous pay-per-song karaoke booths. She looks completely at ease with herself. It’s a curious sight, as karaoke is widely understood as a social affair.
“I just come here to be alone sometimes. I can sing to my heart’s content without waiting for anyone,” says the student from Yonsei University.
Amid the sprawling metropolis of Seoul, there is no shortage of places to visit for those seeking to cut off human interaction. Besides belting one’s heart out, one can spend the night reading in a cubbyhole at a 24-hour book cafe, watch variety shows while barbecuing meat between partitions or simply stay home and kick back with a soju or two.
Partaking in activities alone – or honjok – has, for various social and cultural reasons become ever more prevalent in Korea in recent years. The emerging trend is peculiar in the way it’s finding roots in a traditionally communitarian society, where the concept of “saving face” has long been a core social value.
In somewhat of a subversion, young Koreans have begun challenging the idea that pleasure cannot – or should not – be derived by being on one’s own.
Originally published in TODAY Online
