HBC's Hair of the Dog to close as lease hits 10 years

MJ pours a drink in this painting by her former employee Chae-eun, which is based on a Korea Times photo, displayed on the walls of her bar, Hair of the Dog, located in central Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon neighborhood, Jan. 23. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

It's been almost 10 years, and one of the iconic bars of central Seoul's multicultural Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood is about to close. Hair of the Dog's (HOTD) owner, who is known as MJ to her foreign customers, explained that the law had protected her business for the first 10 years, but now that those legal protections were ending, the landlord wanted her out.

"Once you sign your initial contract with your landlord, usually your business gets protected for 10 years unless they sell their buildings to a different person," she told The Korea Times. "But as long as the landlord stays there, they can't really kick you out. A long time ago, it was different. So actually the 10-year protection of the business is actually a good thing, sort of. Because before the law was passed, they could kick you out anytime they wanted."

After 10 years of doing business, her reward is to be shut down. At first, MJ tried to negotiate for an extended lease, but after selling the space to a neighboring business, she began looking forward to getting out.

"I don't have any regrets," she said. "Maybe it's time."

The final day of business is on Feb 22. After that, MJ says she's going to spend time to focus on herself.

"After this, I'm taking a trip first, and then I kind of want to take a break," she said. "You know, the bar business is always like staying up till very late, and nightlife — drinking a lot. So you miss a lot of things. You have to kind of give up all the weekends and public holidays because that's when you're busy. Sometimes, I get frustrated because all of my friends can do stuff, and they always exclude me, 'MJ can't do it; MJ's got a lot of business.' It's a huge commitment that you always need to be there until very late. Your sleeping schedule is very different from others. And you get tired of it sometimes. And then, a lot of times, you don't have any choice to make a decision over where and with whom you're going to drink and get drunk. So yeah, that's the difficult part. You decide not to drink, but you end up drinking a lot. I'm getting older and I want to focus on health."

But it's clear she'll still miss the bar. Her customers will certainly miss her.

"I never really had any stress of just dealing with customers," MJ said. "For some people, that is a big thing. Some people imagine owning a bar is so stressful because you are dealing with so many drunk people. But to me, that was easy. I don't know why, but I guess it's just my personality. I don't know."

"She is simply the quiet queen of HBC," said Michael Finneran, a longtime customer. "Any foreigner could go to MJ for help at any time. Everyone loves MJ — why wouldnt you?"

Michael Finneran, left, pours a beer during a surprise party at Hair of the Dog, Feb. 16. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

MJ admitted she has been thinking about the future and when she will eventually open another business, but it probably won't be another HOTD.

"I have doubts about having another bar business," she said.

Before HOTD, she owned an American-style diner called Hungry Dog. She said that dealing with the complicated menu made the job much harder.

"So maybe if I decided to open another food and beverage business, it's going to be a simple restaurant."

That's not the only major difference a third business would have from HOTD.

"I'm thinking about a lot of different options," she said. "That to me seems to also lean toward maybe not Haebangchon anymore."

MJ, who also lives in Haebangchon, said it's apparent that gentrification is affecting the area, leading building owners to raise their rents. It's turned the neighborhood into a way for landlords to enrich their bank accounts while tenant businesses mostly struggle to tread water.

A painting of Hair of the Dog (2017) / Courtesy of Aaron Cossrow

HOTD has meant a lot of things to a lot of people coming from different communities over the past decade. While it started out as a dive bar mostly for Westerners, it has catered to many different communities. Sometimes some customers can get a little tense over control of the music playlist. The scribbling on the walls and other decorations present a museum-like display of the kind of crowds HOTD has attracted.

"Hair of the Dog is a late-night HBC staple you can count on to see neighbors or interesting passersby. It's always had good but unpretentious ale and food, and the small artsy interior quickly turns acquaintances into friends until suddenly it's 4 a.m. on the porch, and you realize work is very soon," said Robin Bortner, an American teacher who lives in the neighborhood. "The soul of the neighborhood resides in places like Hair as made by creatives like MJ and I'm worried for our community without it."

"Hair of the Dog and its predecessor, the Hungry Dog, were the mainstay watering holes for a whole bunch of us foreigners in HBC for many years," Pablo Winchester, a northern soul DJ, said. "The street won’t be the same without walking up that hill and being warmly greeted by MJ, and often, in my case, after several ales, promptly falling asleep on the bar. Seriously though, HBC will never be the same."

MJ, center, owner of Hair of the Dog, covers her face in shock after arriving at work to find a surprise party, Feb. 16. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

In recent years, HOTD has been especially welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.

"In the last couple of years, the bar has become a home for young LGBTQ+ people, both Koreans and immigrants," said Heezy Yang, a queer artist who's been a regular customer and also a part-time bartender on some occasions. "We all already know the place has been a home [or] the favorite hangout spot for a lot of foreigners [and] immigrants and the people who live in the neighborhood in general, but it becoming a home for young LGBTQ+ people was kind of unexpected and surprising, as it is not, particularly a queer bar, or run by LGBTQ+ people."

Heezy Yang pours a beer at Hair of the Dog, Feb. 1. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The reason for this, Heezy says, is the people who work there.

"Young LGBTQ+ people realized that the owner and the workers are such great allies and all-around nice and caring people, they started gathering there slowly and HOTD became an important community venue to some of the LGBTQ+ community members," Heezy said. "As one of those people, I will never be able to forget these last few years I spent at HOTD and all the precious memories I made there with people I call good friends — one of them being the owner of the bar, MJ, who is not only an amazing bar person but also a very kind and caring human being."

Balloons on the wall say "Thank you MJ" during a surprise party at Hair of the Dog, Feb. 16. Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar