Asia - What makes a Korean Hot stone sauna different to a Finnish style one?

I've seen Korean Hot Stone saunas offered at a premium at Japanese bath and sauna/steam room resorts. They involve a hefty extra charge and are typically offered in 20 minute increments.

I also saw a Korean movie "Take After My Cat" a couple of years ago in which I seem to remember fully clothed people standing around some hot stones.

Can anybody explain these saunas and why they are different to the kind I'm familiar with (pine room with a brazier where the high temperature gets you to sweat out dirt and open your pores which then need to be closed with a cold water dip - process can be repeated)

I do not know the difference by experience, but a quick google came up with this:
http://www.seoulstyle.com/art_naked.htm

BTW I advise anyone who thinks about going to the sauna, finnish or not, read the health advise and "user manual" to get the most out of it and avoid health damages. Using sauna the wrong way does more harm than good!!!

Thanks! That's a very interesting article, but all it says about the kind of sauna I was particularly curious about is:

"There may also be saunas with black pebbles and weird red lights"

Which I believe are infra-red

The stones used in Korean saunas are supposed to have positive health effects and date from the time Koreans "bathed" in caves. Another difference is that the Korean sauna is dry while a "Finnish" sauna bath is based on the humidity effect.

The keyword is ganbanyoku (岩盤浴) in Japanese -- there were a huge boom a few years back, but are now slowly petering out. Here's somebody's experience:

http://www.xenemag.net/e/hot/hot_01.html

And yes, the key to Finnish saunas is the humidity, or more specifically, regulating it yourself by throwing water on the stove. Dry "Finnish" saunas are a crime against humanity... and regrettably common in Japan. (I once saw a warning sign in a sauna in Hokkaido saying that you shouldn't throw water on the stove, because it'll result in hot steam. Well, duh. :mad: )

Thanks jpatokal!

That was very informative and adressed practically all of my questions. It seems it might be a Thai thing and not Korean at all (which helps explain why I couldn't find out much about it...)