Show Girls Not a New Thing in Korea

Andrei Lankov North Korea Zone has written another interesting article, but this time it is for the Korea Times. This article is about the development of the Korean bus industry throughout the last century. What I found the most interesting about the article is this excerpt:

Initially the city-owned bus company had 10 vehicles. These were Japanese-made, each seating 12 passengers and painted black. The crew consisted of a driver and a female conductor. The idea of a female conductor was a novelty. It was believed that they were introduced in order to lure passengers from the competing tram company. Only good-looking girls needed apply.

The trick obviously worked: there were stories about students who fell for a bus girl and spent huge amounts of money on tickets just to ride and have an opportunity to look at her. The bus company presumably did not mind such fee-paying romances.

Isn’t interesting that even decades ago the Koreans used Show Girls to sell something? For those not familar with Korea, businesses here often use young, scantily clad, dancing girls to sell products out in the streets and also inside the stores. I’m sure the women long ago on these buses weren’t scantily clad, but it is interesting to see how this practice evolved over the years.