When I was younger and more invested in the Koreatown nightlife experience, there was one thing that I gleefully guiltily looked forward to seeing at the end of each evening—the drunken brawl. Usually it would take place in the valet section or the parking lot of a K-town club or bar at closing time. A shouting match would develop between the two parties, usually because someone inappropriately talked to someone’s man or woman, and before you knew it, a drunken fight would break out.
Now, I don’t condone violence and I’m not talking about the type of fights where guns are drawn and it turns ugly and deadly (I’ve seen enough of these in K-town too). I’m referring to a particular brand of drunken K-town style of brawling that involves a lot of verbal dissing, slapping and clothing being grabbed. My favorites were the chick fights. Some of those girls had mad skills—they had a technique that allowed them to both pull their opponent’s hair in the most painful way while simultaneously vomiting all over their new Prada outfits. It didn’t take a lot to set off these confrontations—a simple look might be enough. I remember one time a Chinese American friend who was with me when a crazy fight broke out, turned to me and said, “Damn! Koreans are scary! What is it with you guys? Is it all that kimchi or what?”
Well, according to this recent article in the Korea Times, “Korea is becoming an ‘angry society,’ where killing people in a fit of rage is no longer a rare crime and other crimes of passion are increasingly becoming commonplace.”
