By 
The article below tends to give creditability to the theory that the bar owner was more than happy to let the fire burn down her bar to make way for a hotel:
An Itaewon brothel that was burned down by a U.S. soldier is being replaced by a seven-story hotel that the owner vows will “never, ever” be used for prostitution despite its location in the heart of a narrow street known as Hooker Hill.
“My hotel is just a place for simple sleeping, and the location is excellent,” said Yang Kwanyoung, adding that customers will have quick access to public transportation, popular shopping areas and palaces.
Pfc. Marcos Pedraza-Pascual was given a one-year suspended sentence for a conviction of gross negligence for the Nov. 15, 2011, blaze that started in the Tiger Tavern and caused about $71,000 in damage to three buildings on Hooker Hill, where a number of businesses remain off-limits to U.S. troops because of suspected prostitution and human trafficking. [Stars & Stripes]
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7:40 am on January 29th, 2013 1
It would be more accurate to say the fire caused $71,000 dollars in IMPROVEMENTS.
Anyway, I’m sure there will “never, ever” be a drunk and a hooker getting down in her fine establishment. Never, ever before they open for business anyway…
7:59 am on January 29th, 2013 2
“My hotel is just a place for simple sleeping, and so with people who like to take a relaxing nap in mind we’ll be offering hourly rates”.
8:42 am on January 29th, 2013 3
So that what it’s called now days.
12:04 pm on January 29th, 2013 4
I’m asking this for clarification: The owner and manager of the pub was the same person who owns the new hotel?
1:23 pm on January 29th, 2013 5
4- Does it matter? In Korea, to hide from the taxman, it is very common for property to be listed under different names but, “wink wink”, have the same owner, if you know what I mean.
1:50 pm on January 29th, 2013 6
Flunky,
The Korean taxman is more interested in barley prices and beer.
1:53 pm on January 29th, 2013 7
Flunky Brewster wrote:
Well, first off, I’d like to point out again I was just asking for clarification. I don’t know the answer, and I’m a bit loath to speculate on anything without the facts.
You are correct that there’s a lot of shell games going on with who owns what property, but that doesn’t mean that that’s always the case, and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s the case here. More to the point: It would be unusual for someone with enough means to own a building and lot that size in the middle of Seoul to also be the one owning and managing a pub/brothel inside it. Such owners are typically living off the rents of their property and not getting their hands dirty with actual business management like brothels, convenience stores, kimbap shops, etc.
And if the manager is not the one who owns the building, that makes the likelihood of deliberate arson less likely. And correct me if I’m wrong, but GI Korea seems to be hinting that that is a good possibility.
While I think it’s plausible, I don’t think it’s likely and the connection is tenuous. It has been fourteen months since the building burned down, hardly a suspicious time frame.
I mentioned in this postthat my next-door neighbors (USFK-affiliated civilians) burned down their house. Had the owner rebuilt instead of turning it into a makeshift parking lot, would he have been suspect as well? Rebuilding is what people do after a fire, especially in a high-rent area.
1:58 pm on January 29th, 2013 8
tbonetylr wrote:
tbonetylr, the taxman is very interested in who owns what property. In order to curb speculative buying or erosion of the egalitarian ideal*, taxes are significantly higher on second homes, third homes, etc.
People get around this by putting property in a relative’s name. Property taxes are quite low (mine is only a few hundred dollars a year) for a first home.
*Note I’m not saying egalitarian reality, since the ideal falls far short. But it is a societal value, of which politicians and voters are keenly aware, and it is the byproduct of the clash of systems (i.e., North and South) that erupted in the days after Japanese rule ended and often dominated throughout the Park regime and later.
2:09 pm on January 29th, 2013 9
6- You don’t know much about the Korean taxman and property ownership. It’s very common to hide property and the transactions under the names of others.
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2966026&cloc=rss%7Cnews%7Cjoongangdaily
And it’s part of a larger problem of illegal activity.
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/Article.aspx?aid=2965052
2:18 pm on January 29th, 2013 10
7- There’s a big difference between your example of a fire in a residential home and this very suspicious fire that took place in a commercial zone that is home to plenty of illegal activity, and that’s been proven, mind you, and has resulted in that area being placed off-limits. The fact remains that someone profited from the fire and they are using the money to build something that will allow them to further profit from the rampant prostitution in that vicinity. And why do you think they call it “Hooker Hill” anyway?
5:39 pm on January 29th, 2013 11
Whatever happened to PVT Dipshit, anyway?
6:46 pm on January 29th, 2013 12
#8,
There was a very short window of time about a year ago during which the government relaxed the home purchase tax (not the property taxes), a reduction that was large enough to offset the slightly higher taxes on additional homes, and then some. Besides that, property taxes on a second home are still very low.
#9,
Yes, one of my wife’s relatives owned dozens of properties and businesses through proxies while he was alive. He was the president of his club.
10:14 pm on January 29th, 2013 13
Urban renewal at its finest!!!
10:16 pm on January 29th, 2013 14
13. If only they had a community organizer.
6:22 pm on January 30th, 2013 15
14- Like Songtan Sally?
6:25 pm on January 30th, 2013 16
15. Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go? … ad infintium…
8:35 pm on January 30th, 2013 17
and she is still work’n it!!
7:39 pm on January 31st, 2013 18
The real issue here is how much noise the construction will cause and all those judging eyes of the construction workers when I… I mean when people try to make their way around that street every nigh… erm whenever it is that those people go there.
Quite annoying… for those people…
7:43 am on February 1st, 2013 19
#15,16,
Is that always the same lady or is it a general term used to describe your typical streetwalker in Songtan?
3:11 pm on February 1st, 2013 20
19. It’s the same one. I know she plied her trade many moon ago in TDC. She migrated to Songtan, I think in the early 2000′s. I haven’t been down south in quite a while but apparently, according to Flyingsword, she is still active.
Shudder… When you see her you will know. The weird bubble appendage on her ass and her mating call. Wanna go? Wanna go? Wanna go?
…and “lady?” C’mon man!
9:07 pm on February 1st, 2013 21
That street sure gets a lot of fires. The Old Stompers burned down and I think the place next to East-West Club burned down.
11:53 pm on February 1st, 2013 22
#20,
So, I take it she’s no spring chicken.
And I meant lady as in lady of the night.
6:59 pm on February 2nd, 2013 23
So if they didn’t redevelop the burned area with a brothel hotel what would we expect them to do? Find all the old bricks and rocks that made up the building, clean them off and rebuild the same establishment? I really do not see a point in this article and I feel dumb for even reading it.