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Noraebang (노래방), literally translated as singing room, are private karaoke rooms where Koreans of every generation belt out K-pop hits, 1990s ballads, and the occasional foreign chart-topper. With more than 30,000 noraebang in business across the country, singing in a small room with friends or coworkers has become one of the most distinctive habits of Korean nightlife.
What is a noraebang?
A noraebang is a private room rented by the hour and equipped with a karaoke system, microphones, tambourines, and a small screen that displays scrolling lyrics. Rooms are designed for groups of two to fifteen people and are usually billed at roughly 20,000 to 50,000 won per hour, depending on the size of the room and the venue. Tabletop snacks, soft drinks, and in many cases beer or soju are available, although alcohol policy varies by establishment. According to The Korea Herald, the karaoke machine reached Korea in the early 1990s from Japan and roughly 600,000 machines are now installed nationwide, about one for every 80 Koreans.
Noraebang versus coin noraebang
The standard noraebang, sometimes signed as norae-yeonseup-jang (singing practice room), charges by the hour for the whole room. The coin noraebang (코인노래방), often shortened to 코노 (kono), charges per song. A 1,000 won bill or coin typically buys one to four songs, and the small booths usually hold one to five singers. Coin noraebang are unmanned, popular with teenagers, students, and solo singers, and alcohol is generally prohibited. Stripes Korea notes that they are usually clustered near subway stations and busy streets, which makes them easy to find for a quick session.
How to use a noraebang: TJ Media versus Kumyoung
Almost every noraebang in Korea runs on a machine from one of two manufacturers, TJ Media or Kumyoung (also known as Geumyoung). TJ Media leads the market by a wide margin. KED Global reports that TJ Media's sales were roughly triple those of its rivals in 2022, with the company posting a 250 percent jump in operating profit in the first quarter of 2023 as the post-pandemic karaoke boom returned. Customers use a remote control or a PDA-style digital song index to search by title, artist, or partial lyric. Songbooks listing five and six digit codes are still kept in every room for guests who prefer to flip through pages, and English, Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese songs are widely supported.
Tambourines, disco lights, and the room atmosphere
Most rooms come with a pair of tambourines, a basket of disposable microphone covers, and ceiling mounted disco lights that pulse with the music. Plush sofas line the walls and a coffee table in the middle holds the remote, a songbook, and any food or drinks ordered from the front counter. Some venues such as Su Noraebang in Hongdae require guests to remove their shoes at the entrance, which is part of the reason rooms feel more like a friend's living room than a public venue. End of session, the staff often adds 10 to 30 minutes of free service time, a small gesture known as seo-bi-seu (서비스) that is common across Korean hospitality.
Etiquette: shoes, snacks, and alcohol
Noraebang etiquette is relaxed, but a few practices are widely followed. Guests use the microphone covers provided at the counter for hygiene. Shoes come off at venues like Su Noraebang. Outside food is usually banned at coin noraebang, while standard noraebang sell snacks, soft drinks, and often beer or soju, although venues marked as norae-yeonseup-jang technically operate as practice rooms and do not serve alcohol. Singers are expected to pass the microphone around so everyone gets a turn, and even reluctant guests are encouraged to pick at least one song. As one Korean office worker told The Korea Herald, joining in is considered basic etiquette for socializing in Korea.
Popular songs at the noraebang
Songbooks span Korean trot, 1990s ballads, hip hop, current K-pop, and a long international section. Crowd pleasers include BTS Dynamite, Buzz Coward (겁쟁이), Big Mama Resignation (체념), Bigbang Haru Haru, IU Through the Night, and ballads by Sung Si-kyung, Lim Chang-jung, and Park Hyo-shin. K-pop fans queue up TWICE Cheer Up, BLACKPINK Lovesick Girls, and aespa Supernova, while older groups lean on Queen Bohemian Rhapsody or Frank Sinatra My Way. Songs end with a score out of 100 that often becomes the highlight of the night, complete with confetti animations on the screen.
The 회식 third round tradition
Noraebang is woven into hoesik (회식), the after work dinner culture of Korean companies. A typical hoesik moves through rounds called 차 (cha): 1차 is dinner, 2차 is drinks at a bar or pojangmacha, and 3차 (samcha) is often the noraebang. Singing together is considered a way to relax the hierarchy of the workplace and to bond as a team. The third round has become less compulsory in recent years as younger workers push back on long evenings, but a samcha at the noraebang remains the classic ending to a long company dinner.
Famous noraebang chains and where to go in Seoul
Su Noraebang and its sister Luxury Su Noraebang in Hongdae are the best known venues for visitors. Both occupy multi-floor buildings with floor to ceiling window rooms, duplex rooms, and shoes-off seating, and the Hongdae location appeared in the K-drama Hospital Playlist. Rock-Q Coin Noraebang is a large, clean coin karaoke in the center of Hongdae with a recording booth. Junco Music Town, a chain across the country, combines a Korean style bar with a noraebang and includes an all you can eat snack bar. Beyond Hongdae, Gangnam Station and the streets around Jongno 3-ga have dense clusters of noraebang and coin noraebang. For a quick first session, head to Hongik University Station Exit 9 and walk two minutes into the main Hongdae strip.
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