South Korean businesses and organizations charged 551.6 billion won ($415 million) to corporate cards at nightlife venues last year, with more than half of the money spent at high-end hostess bars known locally as room salons.
The figure accounted for 0.3 percent of the 204.66 trillion won in total corporate-card spending in 2025, according to National Tax Service and Credit Finance Association data obtained by Rep. Moon Jin-seok of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea.
Room salons, where hostesses drink and sing with customers in private rooms, accounted for 302.6 billion won, or nearly 55 percent of the nightlife spending.
Another 117.3 billion won was spent at "danran bars," where customers may sing but paid hostesses are prohibited. Theater-style restaurants offering shows and other performances accounted for 48.8 billion won, followed by other entertainment bars at 68.2 billion won and nightclubs at 14.7 billion won.
Corporate-card spending at such venues totaled 2.99 trillion won between 2020 and 2025.
Annual spending fell sharply from 439.8 billion won in 2020 to 212 billion won in 2021, before rebounding to 563.8 billion won in 2022 and 624.4 billion won in 2023. It declined to 596.2 billion won in 2024 and fell again last year.
Moon said the concentration of spending at room salons indicated that the practice of using company funds to entertain business partners persisted despite changes in workplace culture.
“The fact that more than half of corporate-card spending at entertainment establishments occurred at room salons shows that business-entertainment spending practices remain,” Moon said. “Tax authorities should continue monitoring the use of corporate cards at such establishments.”
Corporate-card spending at golf courses, another venue commonly used for business meetings and entertainment, totaled 1.97 trillion won last year, down 4.2 percent from 2024. Annual spending at golf courses has remained around 2 trillion won since 2021.
An October 2025 survey released by civic group Workplace Gabjil 119 found that 76.6 percent of office workers surveyed believed entertainment at nightlife venues contributed to gender discrimination and sexual harassment, while imposing unnecessary costs on businesses.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
