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By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
For 27-year-old Lim Ji-ae, battling cockroaches in her studio apartment has been a constant nightmare. At least one or two encounters with the insect per week put her on edge. That is, until she recently hired someone to be her personal pest control agent for 5,000 won per occasion.
He arrives at her house within 10 minutes of her call, and sometimes even picks up toilet paper, toothpaste and other urgent grocery items on his way. In fact, whatever Lim needs, he does ― most of the time.
``He's my new best friend,'' says Lim, who was actually referring to a plural group of service providers, the so-called substitute men, an emerging beck-and-call squad that evolved from the common ``quick delivery service,'' which simply shuttled goods from point A to point B.
But the upgraded version exceeds far beyond expectations, as substitute men do everything from delivering food, moving heavy furniture, picking up laundry and walking dogs to escorting children to and from school.
As long as nothing illegal and morally wrong is involved, almost everything is possible, says Yoon Joo-yeol, who runs Any Man, a service based in southern Seoul.
``We had someone calling for toilet paper while on the toilet,'' he said, ``while one man called from the U.S. to have porridge and medicine delivered to his girlfriend ill in bed.''
One picky customer, who couldn't trust local seafood restaurants, even requested a substitute man to videotape himself catch a fish in the ocean before having the fresh catch prepared as sashimi, Yoon recounted.
``There is never a dull day,'' he said, adding that services typically cost anywhere from 5,000 won to 300,000 won, considering the labor intensity of the task.
Lee Jae-hong, the owner of Life Manager, another service provider, explains that the do-it-all service is picking up quick traction nationwide from men and women of all ages, but the best business is in the Gangnam, southern Seoul, district.
He said the large single female population in the area leads to high demand for frequent services such as food delivery, grocery shopping and simple repair work.
``The competition is becoming fierce as more and more customers are learning about the service,'' said Lee said, who competes with almost 15 rivals in the area.
Experienced customers like Lim says the cost is ``friendly,'' but advised users to be cautious and not to expose too much personal information to the substitutes.
jhan@koreatimes.co.kr
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