By Yating Yang
A South Korean barbecue restaurant has sparked controversy after posting a video of women staff performing the provocative “Terminal Dance”.
Eatery bosses also promised dancing staff a bonus if the clip reached 1 million views.
Controversy surrounds Gopchang House in Seoul after asking its women employees to perform a suggestive “dance service” in front of customers by mimicking the viral, so-called Terminal Dance.
The restaurant filmed their provocative moves and uploaded the video to social media, with the title “Hormone Shop Performing the Terminal Dance”.
The Terminal Dance has become popular across social media for its sensual style, which features exaggerated hip sways, rolling shoulders and flirtatious hand gestures.
Participants tend to wear tight shorts, high heels or sporty uniforms to highlight their curves. One of the most popular videos of the genre has already attracted more than 398,000 likes.
Unlike the revealing outfits worn by social media performers, the restaurant staff performed the dance in standard work attire and aprons, maintaining a typical restaurant appearance while playfully shaking their hips and shoulders.
At one point, a member of staff continues serving food to customers as others perform the dance just steps away, blurring the line between routine service and sexually suggestive entertainment.
As part of the promotional push, the video was captioned: “If you are curious about the staff’s Instagram, please comment below.”
Another caption claimed the restaurant manager would offer a 500,000 won (US$370) bonus to the workers if the video reached 1 million views.
Many Korean netizens criticised the video for objectifying women and reported it to authorities for allegedly violating the Food Sanitation Act.
Government officials have launched an investigation and asked the owner to take down the video.
The incident drew a mixed reaction online.
One person said: “If my daughter did something like this, I would be devastated. It is no different from a brothel.”
“This does not even look like a proper restaurant; they should just focus on making good food and keeping things clean,” said another.
However, some people thought it was a harmless promotion.
“How is this any different from idol groups dancing on stage? There is nothing to criticise as long as the participants are willing,” said one person.
Similar marketing tactics have also swept China.
In 2023, so-called ke mu san dance craze at Haidilao, one of the country’s most popular hotpot chains, went viral and drew large crowds of customers.