Club Arena Seoul Is Closed: What Happened and Where to Go Now

Club Arena in Gangnam is closed. It stopped operating in March 2019, during the police investigation tied to the Burning Sun scandal, and its de facto owner was arrested later that month over alleged tax evasion. If you are looking for a big Gangnam club night today, the clubs below are open, play EDM, and are listed with hours and prices on NightFlow.

Is Club Arena still open?

No. Korean news reports from March 2019 show Arena had stopped operating:

• 10 March 2019: Newsis published a photo of Arena's entrance captioned "Club Arena under internal repair?", after police searched the club as part of the investigation into a K-pop star.
• 17 March 2019: Newspim reported that Arena, which it called a well-known Gangnam club, had suspended business, citing "internal repairs".
• 18 April 2019: Ilyo, reporting on another Gangnam club, referred to Arena and Burning Sun as having closed.

We found no dated report of Arena itself ever reopening.

What happened to Arena

Arena was one of the Gangnam clubs pulled into the Burning Sun scandal in early 2019, which centred on Burning Sun, another Gangnam club, and a member of the K-pop group Big Bang.

On 26 March 2019, the Korea Herald reported that a Seoul court had issued an arrest warrant for Arena's de facto owner, a man surnamed Kang. He was suspected of underreporting the club's sales and inflating staff salaries from 2014 to 2017, avoiding a tax bill of 16.2 billion won (about US$14.3 million at the time). Police said he had put another person forward as the club's nominal head.

Did Arena reopen under a new name?

There was a plan. In August 2019, the Seoul Economic Daily reported that, about six months after shutting, the venue would reopen under a new name, Flex, in the same location: a hotel in Gangnam. The planned opening date at the end of August had been pushed back.

What has happened at that address since, we could not confirm from dated news. To see what operates there today, search "렉스관광호텔" (Lex Tourist Hotel) on Naver Map.

Where Gangnam big-room and EDM fans go now

Gangnam is still Seoul's district for bottle service and dressed-up nights. NightFlow lists 17 Gangnam clubs. These are the ones tagged for EDM on their NightFlow pages:

Lion Super Club

The most straightforward EDM pick. It is tagged as a club playing EDM, opens Thursdays from 22:00 and Fridays and Saturdays from 23:00. Entry is listed at ₩25,000 if you buy in advance or ₩30,000 at the door, with two drinks included.

Core Seoul and Core Lounge

Both are in Apgujeong and open Friday and Saturday from 22:00 to 05:00. Core Seoul is tagged lounge, EDM and techno, with a ₩10,000 entry fee and a note that entry may be limited when it is full. Core Lounge is an EDM lounge.

Club Ace

Near Sinsa, Club Ace mixes EDM and hip-hop and opens Tuesday to Sunday from 23:00, which makes it the easiest option on a weeknight. Entry is listed at ₩20,000 for men and free for women.

+82 and DM SEOUL

If your group wants hip-hop in the mix, +82 (hip-hop and EDM) and DM SEOUL (hip-hop, EDM and K-pop) are both weekend venues. At +82, tables start at ₩1,100,000. DM SEOUL's page lists no slippers or flip-flops.

Frame Seoul

Tagged techno and EDM, open 23:30 to 07:00. Plan on walking in; its page lists an entry fee that varies by event, with one free drink.

What a Gangnam table costs

A table in Gangnam is booked against a minimum spend for the whole group, and on NightFlow that is ₩1,000,000 at Gangnam clubs. You reach it by ordering from the club's own drinks menu. Some starting points from the VIP tables page:

• Core Seoul: cheapest set ₩450,000, plus a ₩50,000 table charge
• Lion Super Club: cheapest bottle ₩350,000
• Club Ace: cheapest bottle ₩350,000
• +82: cheapest set ₩1,100,000

Split across six people, a ₩1,000,000 minimum works out to about ₩167,000 each.

Dress code and timing

Gangnam has the strictest doors in Seoul. Shorts, slippers and sweatpants can get men turned away; a shirt or clean knit with clean sneakers or dress shoes is the safe choice. Full details are on the dress code page.

Most Seoul clubs open around 22:00 and close around 05:00, and the room usually fills around 1am. With a table, arriving around midnight works. Check each venue on the opening hours page, since several Gangnam clubs open only on Friday and Saturday.

Quick answers

Is Club Arena in Seoul open? No. It stopped operating in March 2019.

Why did Arena close? It shut during the 2019 police investigation linked to the Burning Sun scandal, and its de facto owner was arrested that month over alleged tax evasion of 16.2 billion won.

What is the closest thing to Arena today? For a big EDM night in Gangnam, start with Lion Super Club, Core Seoul or Club Ace. All three have tables available to book in English through NightFlow.

Where can I see every Gangnam club? On the Gangnam clubs page.

Sources: Newsis, 10 Mar 2019 (Korean) · Newspim, 17 Mar 2019 (Korean) · Korea Herald, 26 Mar 2019 · Ilyo, 18 Apr 2019 (Korean) · Seoul Economic Daily, 20 Aug 2019 (Korean)