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'Unlike their Asian counterparts, who she saw squeezing in as many sights and shops as possible during their stays in the South Korean capital, these women – mostly in their early 20s – seemed uninterested in the usual tourist trails.
After visiting eight hostels and interviewing 123 women, mostly from North America and Europe, Lee came to the conclusion that many had been drawn to the country by what she calls “the Netflix effect.
The women Lee interviewed were fascinated with Korean men who were portrayed on TV as being in touch with their emotions and willing to embrace their “effeminate sides,” Lee said.
They considered Korean men cultured and romantic while complaining that men in their home countries often neglected their appearances and had one-track minds.
Grace Thornton, a 25-year-old gardener from the United Kingdom, traveled to Seoul in 2021 after watching K-drama “Crash Landing on You” on Netflix.
She was struck by how men in the show did not jeer at or catcall women on the street, as happens in her home country.
In her eyes, Korean men are “gentlemen, polite, charming, romantic, fairytale-like, chivalrous, respectful.” She said it also helps that Korean men dress well and groom themselves.
“(English men in comparison) are half drunk, holding a beer, holding a dead fish,” she said – a reference to what she said was the prevalence of fishing pictures in British male dating app profiles.
In 2005, 2.3 million women visited the country – compared to 2.9 million men, according to government data. By 2019 – the last year before the coronavirus played havoc with tourism – nearly 10 million women visited the country, compared to just 6.7 million men.'
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