What is a Hongdae girl?
A Hongdae girl is a woman who flirts with people in Hongdae. When a Hongdae girl flirts or hooks up with someone, it tends to be on a night out in the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea. Like Hongdae boys, Hongdae girls typically go for foreigners, who they find attractive or lucrative. They approach these foreigners with bold, flirty advances in the hopes of getting with someone new for the night (or getting some drinks for free). Meet the wikiHow Experts John Keegan is a Dating Coach with over 15 years of experience. He runs The Awakened Lifestyle, where he uses his dating, attraction, and socializing expertise to help people find love. Eze Sanchez is a Life & Relationship Coach who specializes in helping people find self-acceptance, self-empathy, and self-love by building personal accountability and kindness. Hongdae girls tend to find their partners in the clubs of the Hongdae neighborhood, which are often filled with foreigners. Hongdae is a young, vibrant neighborhood known for its exciting nightlife. Located around Hongnik University, it's a cultural hub for college students and young tourists. Hongdae girls tend to be bold when they flirt. They may walk up and immediately start a conversation or sit down at your table and ask for drinks without being prompted.
A select few Hongdae girls are allegedly cult members. Although these types of Hongdae girls aren’t as common, be cautious if someone randomly approaches you on the street and starts discussing religion and spirituality with you without being prompted. South Koreans usually don’t approach someone they don’t know unless they seem lost, so it's possible that they’re trying to rope you into their cult or religious organization. If this happens, do your best to quickly exit the conversation. Clinical psychologist Natalie Feinblatt, PsyD, says cults tend to approach people who are in transitional periods of their lives, like those going away for college. Religious cults like the Unification Church have been known to approach people near Hongnik University in Hongdae. Although it isn’t common, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings and avoid leaving with any potential cult members.
Some Hongdae girls are just young women who live in Hongdae. The term Hongdae girl is also used to refer to young women who live in Hongdae and frequent the clubs and bars. These kinds of Hongdae girls usually just want to have fun and look cool while doing it. They can often be found wearing trendy, youthful styles and enjoying the area's vibbrant nightlife. Leggings or tight pants paired with loose-fitting tops are mentioned as a common style among Hongdae girls, as are big platform shoes and high-top, chunky sneakers.
Signs of a Hongdae Girl
They’re super flirtatious right off the bat. If a girl in Hongdae approaches you and she’s immediately touching or caressing your arm and talking about how cute you are while making deep, flirtatious eye contact, she may be a Hongdae girl. While single people tend to flirt with others in the club who they find interesting, Hongdae girls usually start strong with the flirting, skipping the small talk entirely.
They get into intimate topics quickly. Whereas typical flirty folk will work their way up to more intimate topics through subtle wording and gradually increasing flirting, Hongdae girls aren’t afraid to jump straight into it. Depending on the girl’s intentions, they may immediately ask questions related to sex, or up the intimacy to get what they want. On May 12, 2025, @tienteaa recorded her night out in Hongdae on TikTok and showed a man on the streets giving her and her girls advice on how to approach guys there, who told them to go up to a table and perk up their shoulders as they jump into flirting.
They aren’t afraid to check out other people in your presence. If you notice that the girl you’re talking to is always looking at other guys when they’re in conversation with you, or you hear them talking about how attractive other people are, you may be dealing with a Hongdae girl. It’s normal to find others attractive, but vocalizing those thoughts or acting on them without regard for the other person isn’t, and it’s a sign that you’re dealing with a Hongdae girl.
They talk to other people after you. If you’ve been approached by a girl and you turn her down, only to see her circle back to someone else right after, then you may have been talking to a Hongdae girl. Hongdae girls aren’t afraid to talk to foreigners they’re interested in, and if that doesn’t always stop at one person, especially if they’re trying to get something in particular.
What to Do if a Hongdae Girl Approaches You
Trust your gut if you feel like they’re using you. According to dating coach John Keegan, when someone's intentions aren't honest, you may have a feeling that you’re being used or that something isn’t right. The conversation will typically only be about their own needs, and they won’t make an effort to connect on a deeper level. So, if you notice any of these signs and feel that things are off, go with your gut and pull back.
Politely exit the conversation. To politely end a conversation, life & relationship coach Eze Sanchez says to share what’s going on with you to soften the blow. Whether you have a partner back at home or you simply aren’t trying to hook up with someone, politely communicate that to them before making your exit.
If you suspect they’re in a cult, avoid leaving with them. If they approach you talking about spiritual or religious beliefs right off the bat, this isn't a good sign. Try asking lots of questions to see how they respond. In most cults, questions tend to be dismissed, ignored, or belittled, so if they’re unwilling to give you a straight answer, this could be a sign of a cult. Most importantly, don't leave with them to go to a second location, whether that be a nearby coffee shop or their religious site. Instead, tell them you have to go and politely make your exit.
If you want to hook up, be safe about it. There’s nothing wrong with hooking up with someone you meet during a night out, as long as you’re safe and respectful of all parties involved. This means making sure neither party has a partner, ensuring that everything is consensual, and taking precautions to stay safe, like wearing a condom and informing a trusted friend of your location. Don’t be afraid to ask if your partner has any sexually transmitted infections (STIs) that you should worry about. Safe sex is great sex, after all!
Hongdae Girl Stories
One viral TikTok recounts the story of a Hongdae girl asking guys for drinks. On May 6, 2025, user @aria_seo posted a TikTok about her friend, who she categorizes as a Hongdae girl. One night, this friend boldly invited two guys over to their table to get them to pay for drinks. The group soon left the club and went outside, but when the guys invited them to karaoke, the Hongdae girl declined and said, “Now that I see your faces in a brighter light, you guys are not my style.”
One Redditor tells the story of a Hongdae girl boldly grabbing him in the club. In his post, the Redditor explained that he walked into the club and was immediately grabbed by a girl “like we [had] been dating for six months.” She showered him with compliments, said she loved him, and flirted heavily. He was then pulled out of the first club and into another one, where the drinks were plentiful. Although the love bombing and free drinks continued, he eventually left to avoid getting scammed. The Redditor’s username has since been deleted (as he was on a throwaway account), but his story remains posted.
Another TikToker recounts the time she was approached by two cultists in Hongdae. On April 29, 2025, TikToker @mana.jesslyn explained that she was walking in Hongdae when she was approached by two women. They struck up a conversation, asked if she was alone, and talked about what they were doing in Korea. Eventually, she left with the two, went to a cafe, and the conversation quickly turned into them asking her to come with them to their religious site. The TikToker was tired and made an excuse to leave, but she later found out she was talking to two cult members when she explained the situation to a friend.
How Hongdae Girls Compare to Hongdae Guys
Both are strongly attracted to foreigners. Hongdae boys and Hongdae girls are known for having a strong attraction and infatuation towards foreigners, especially Black and white foreigners from America, France, and the UK. Their attraction tends to drive them to “hunt” for foreigners during nights out in Hongdae, determined to hook up with them.
Both come off strongly when they flirt, but take slightly different approaches. When they approach people they’re interested in, Hongdae boys and Hongdae girls lay it on thick, but their methods of flirting differ slightly. Hongdae boys will typically approach you and ask for your number or if you’re “open-minded,” while Hongdae girls tend to approach you at a bar (or outside of one) and start buttering you up with compliments. Some Hongdae girls immediately get to the point, approaching guys and asking personal questions about their sex lives without getting to know them.
They both tend to flirt at hunting bars. In South Korea, hunting bars (also known as hunting pocha) are bars where you go to “hunt” for potential partners to hook up with. They tend to be filled with single men and women looking for a match, making them hot spots for Hongdae boys and Hongdae girls.
Hongdae’s Dating Scene
Hongdae is filled with young, single people looking for partners. Hongdae is known for its vibrant nightlife, filled with single people who visit South Korea from across the world. Many of these tourists are looking for people to hook up with or pursue romantically once the sun goes down. The Hongdae neighborhood surrounds Hongnik University, too, which is filled with college students looking to meet new people.
The Hongdae dating scene is also full of drinking and partying. That vibrant nightlife isn’t just for show. It’s not uncommon to walk the streets of Hongdae on a night out and encounter seas of blackout drunk 20-somethings. Once you get inside the clubs and bars, it’s no different, as they’re typically packed with young folks trying to have fun. Promoters in Hongdae tend to be eager to get people into their clubs. On May 12, 2025 TikToker @tienteaa even posted a TikTok of a club promoter dragging her to their club by her arm!
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