Are you interested in Korean sauna culture?
Did you know that there is a sauna culture in Korea?
Do men and women take a sauna together?
Do you have to be naked?
Can children take a sauna in Korea?
You will find the answers to all these questions in this article.
Welcome to the Korean sauna!
Korean sauna culture
Korean sauna culture probably dates back to the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, I could not find more information about the history of Korean saunas. I promise to update this post as soon as I find out new information.
Korean Day Spas are multi-storey buildings. Often windowless, a bit like concrete bunkers. Depending on the locality, they have different art and decorations. Day spas, which are popular with locals, are usually very simplistic.
Jjimjilbang Day Spa
There are changing rooms for men and women on the entrance floor. You will receive a T-shirt, shorts, and a towel at the entrance. The towel can be folded into a headdress, Yan Mori. The spas have gyms, restaurants, hairdressers, beauticians, massages, saunas, and other themed rooms.
The entrance fee is 5-10 € depending on the location.
From the dressing room, you go to the unisex area. Everyone has T-shirts and shorts on, so everyone looks the same.
Koreans take all day to enjoy time at the spa. Children are also welcome in the Korean sauna. Maybe very young children don’t come along, but you can often see children over the age of 10 at the spas. I also noticed that at least one day spa is free for small children.
It is possible to stay overnight at the day spa and the spas are often open 24/7. It’s quite a luxury for visitors, but maybe not for employees.
The day spa also has TV or movie rooms where you can wind down, watch TV and relax.
Firedome
Firedome is one name for a Korean sauna. The firedome is like an igloo built of stone. The entrance to the sauna is through a small door. There are no benches in the sauna, people sit on the floor there. If you want to lean on the wall, you can use a wooden backrest. There is no stove inside the sauna as the sauna is heated from the outside. The sauna has hotter and less hot seating areas, something for every taste. The temperature inside the sauna is about 100 ° C.
There are also hourglasses inside the sauna, the use of which is recommended. You should stay in the sauna for only 10-20 minutes.
Ice room
Korean sauna culture also includes an ice room. The ice room has a temperature of approx. -5 ° C. Inside the room there are benches where you can sit and enjoy the cold. The walls are icy. You can stay as long as you feel good. I would say 10-15 minutes is a good time for a Finn. However, the locals may not enjoy themselves for quite as long. Some of them enter and exit to the ice room quickly. They only visit the ice room because it is part of the sauna culture.
The Korean day spa has a variety of theme rooms and diffused with their own active ingredients. The theme rooms can accommodate up to ten people, depending on the spa.
Forest room
The walls in the forest room are lined with wood panels, mostly aspen or pine panels. The purpose of these rooms is to clean the lungs of air pollution (which is an unfortunate fact in Korean cities). Mechanically purified air is blown into the forest room. The temperature in the room is about 30 ° C and there are mattresses on the floor of the room. You can even take a little nap if you want. You stay in the forest room for about half an hour to get the health effects.
Salt room
The salt rooms are lined with salt all the way to the ceiling. There is loose salt on the floor. Is there anything nicer than putting your toes and feet in salt? Salt also cleanses the lungs, helps with allergies, atopy, and asthma. The temperature in the salt room is 30-40 degrees, but there are places where the temperature goes up to 60 ° C.
The pool area
The ground floor has a pool area with separate sides for male and female customers. You go to the pools naked. The water is 40-60 degrees. The area has a variety of health pools, outdoor pools and a cold-water pool. There are recommendations for times in front of each pool. For example, 3 minutes in this pool, followed by a 5-minute break. Then to the next pool for 7 minutes, etc.
The cold pool is not for swimming, you only take a quick dip. The pool area can also have a hot room where customers can warm up.
Korean massage
Korean massage is a little different from what we Westerners are used to. You will not actually be massaged but moved into different positions. This provides mobility to different limbs. During the massage, you will have your clothes on. Massage costs around 30-60 €.
Korean Wash
Korean Wash is done with a massage glove. The washers (often older ladies) have a sturdy wash style and the dead skin just flies away! I can imagine that after this treatment you will feel reborn. Korean Wash costs € 20 upwards depending on how long you want to be treated.
After this treatment, you feel squeaky clean and everything is “in the right place”.
Korean sitting bath
The Korean sitting bath (sorry, I didn’t come up with a better name) is a form of treatment for women. If you have lower back pain or problems with your period, this treatment is for you.
In this treatment, you sit on a teapot-like container. The teapot contains water and herbs, and healing fumes rise up to the uterus. You get yourself a cloak to protect your privacy so no one will see you naked.
This treatment can be used e.g. weight loss, menstrual cramps and haemorrhoids.
The sitting bath is usually 40-50 minutes, but you can be there for an hour if you wish.
After a sitting bath, it is good to take a shower.
Tattoos
If you have tattoos, you might encounter some problems as older people may wonder/ask about them. However, the situation is not as bad as in Japan, where you will have to cover up any tattoos.
Read more: Japanese sauna culture
There is something for everyone at a Korean day spa. There is a cooler sauna and a hotter sauna, cold pools, and ice rooms and many theme rooms. You can visit the saunas in any order and stay as long as you like.
Each masseur, hairdresser, the restaurant is all paid separately in cash. It’s good to keep a small bag of cash with you. And don’t worry when you leave your wallet and phone outside the sauna, no one will steal them.
Food and drink
Locals drink lemonade, green tea, fruit drinks or shikye, a sweet rice drink. Korean sauna food is a sauna egg, which is an overcooked boiled egg called maegbanseog gyelan.
After sauna
After the sauna, go back to the locker room, put on your clothes, dry your hair, put on your make-up and leave.
Did you know that Korean sauna culture is also prevalent in the US? You can experience the Korean sauna in many American cities.
Small sauna glossary:
- Sauna culture – Sauna Munhwa 사우나 문화
- Korean (Day) Spa – Jjimjilbang 찜질방 (Pronounced tsimtsilbang)
- Wood-heated Korean sauna – Hanjeungmak 한증막 (pronounced hanzynmak)
- Eggs cooked in the sauna – 맥반석 계란 maegbanseog gyelan (pronounced mekbansoggelan)
- Sweet rice drink -Shikye 식혜
- Sheepskin Hat: Yan Mori 양머리 (pronounced janmori)
For this Korean sauna culture article, I interviewed Finnish Saana who was on a student exchange in Seoul, Korea. She often visited the local spas during her stay.
Have you been to a Korean day spa? Share your experiences in the comments!
Here are some spas to try in Seoul:
Are you interested in other sauna cultures? My blog also provides comprehensive information on other sauna cultures. You can even start with Estonian sauna culture.
Read more: Estonian sauna culture
