Both parties are free to leave at any time, or depending on mutual interest, they can continue to sit together and drink and talk.
As South Korea urbanised and industrialised, the hierarchical stratification of society remained, in addition to ancestry one's social position in Korean society now includes the level of one's education, alma mater, profession, which company one works for and one's position and seniority (whether one is a seonbae or hubae) within the company.
In booking clubs groups of men will pay for a booth or room, the higher priced they are the better placed they are to observe the dance floor, they will also order a set of drinks and snacks for their table.
Among both male and female patrons there will be those who want more than some drinks, conversation and an exchange of phone numbers, it is the job of the waiter therefore to try and match only those with similar intentions.
Ahn Hyeong-hwan (안형환), the Grand National Party representative and the member of the parliamentary-level Committee on Culture, Sports, Tourism, Broadcasting & Communications raised the issue of how the English-language Arirang TV presented the concept of booking to viewers, and how it could potentially portray as negative an aspect of Korean contemporary culture.