Site-specific mobility and connection in Korea: bangs (rooms) between public and private spaces

Although social and cultural research on mobile communication is exploding, many studies take a technical view of the mobile phone as a personal networking device that connects people ‘anywhere, anytime.’ There has been little cultural research that has examined the uptake of mobile applications that are anchored to specific sites, especially outside European and American localities. To address this, we analyse media experiences in the living spaces of the Korean bang (room) culture. There are specific social spaces, such as DVD bangs, sauna (Jjimjil) bangs, karaoke (norae) bangs, and PC bangs. We position mobile technology along an increasingly blurred border between work and leisure, and we conceptualise the use of mobile phones for the symbolic creation, demarcation, and integration of public and private spaces in a digitally connected urban environment. This analysis provides an understanding of the socio-culturally specific rationales and desires behind technology design and adoption in the South Korean context.