This Woman On TikTok Shows The Side Of South Korea That Not Everyone Knows About And Shares These 30 Interesting Facts

Starting in June, if you do not have a reusable cup with you, you will have to pay extra to have your drink in a plastic or paper cup. In order to reduce plastic and paper waste, Korea is implementing a cup deposit, where you pay ₩200-500 ($0.17-0.42) if you don’t have a reusable cup. You get the money back when you return the paper or the plastic cup from the store you got it from and they will properly recycle it.

몇년생이에요? (myeoch-nyeon-saeng-i-e-yo, “What year are you born?”). Because Korea has their own age system when everyone turns a year older on January 1st, people ask what year you are born, rather than how old you are.

혈액형이 뭐에요? (hyeol-aeg-hyeong-i mwo-eyo, “What’s your blood type?”). Similarly to the US where people ask what your zodiac sign is to link to personality, Koreans use blood types to link to personality.

키가 몇이야? (kiga myeoch-iya, “How tall are you?”). For some reason Koreans love to talk about height.

Do not walk into people’s private homes with your shoes on.
Always wait until an elderly starts eating first.

Don’t drink water front facing the elders. Always turn to the side and then drink.

Never use one hand to get or receive things. You have to use both hands to either give or receive.

If you attend an in-person concert in Korea any form of yelling, cheering or screaming is banned. Because fans are not allowed to scream or make any noise verbally, K-pop group NU’EST who recently had an in-person concert in Korea, designed a fan clap guide to substitute the classic fan chants.

If you have been to Korean, Chinese and Japanese restaurants, you may have noticed that the chopstick sizes are different and from the three countries only Koreans traditionally use a spoon to eat rice. And among the three countries Korean utensils are metal. Because silver changes color when exposed to toxins, Korean royals used silver spoons and chopsticks to detect poison in their food. This practice became a trend for commoners and using metal utensils became a thing. When eating rice, unlike Japanese, Koreans do not pick up the bowl so the long length helps with movement.

Starting this month [June, 2021] Korean male celebrities cannot go to the military when they’re under investigation. This is one the most common tactics we’ve seen from male celebrities whenever there’s some kind of controversy or investigation, you often see them just going to the military. By doing this, it makes it harder for the investigation to proceed and most importantly, you’re out of the public's attention for 2 years and most of the time people just forget.

The Gu Hara Act prevents parents from inheriting their children’s assets when they didn’t even fulfill their parental duties. Gu Hara’s mother abandoned her and her brother when they were very little. She wasn’t present in Hara’s life until she died in November 2019. She showed up to the funeral and demanded 50 percent of Hara’s assets [typically 50 percent went to the mother and father each]. Unfortunately, this act doesn’t apply to Hara [as it was passed in 2021] and 40 percent was given to the mother [the rest was given to the father who gave his share to Gu Hara’s brother]. But the rest of the money will be used to help single parents and struggling trainees.

A lot of the times when you walk into a clothing store, the clothing sizes are just S, M, L, XL. and the sizes are a lot smaller. For example, I wear a US size 2 (US size S), but in Korea I cannot fit into a S.

The return Policy in Korea is not that great. Compared to the US where you can return anything even after using the product, the second you take it out of its packaging, you cannot return it in Korea.

Unless you’re the oldest person, never take the first bite. It is a Korean tradition to wait until the oldest person sitting at the dinner table takes the first bite. If you start eating before your grandfather takes his first bite, it is considered rude.

Wearing colored clothing to a funeral. As there are many different funeral customs around the world, some countries have very festive funerals where people wear bright colors and the overall atmosphere is positive to celebrate the life the person lived. But the funeral customs in Korea are dark and sad and nothing near celebrating. It is common etiquette to show up to a Korean funeral wearingblack. Darker clothing is okay, but if you wear bright colors, it will be a bad impression.

Having a mole on your nose. Korean actresses like Jeon Ji-Hyun, Han Ga-In are recognized for their pretty nose mole. At one point it was even a trend to get a tattoo on your nose to make it look like a mole.

Having a raised mouth tail.

Having an egg-shaped face.

If you whistle at night, an adult will say something like 휘파람 불자마 (hwi-pa-lam bul-ja-ma, ‘Don’t whistle’!). If you whistle at night, you’re gonna call the ghosts out.

One of the craziest days in Korea is 수능 (su-neung) testing day which is kind of the same things as an SAT in America. However, unlike in America where the SAT which can be taken multiple times, Koreans get one shot at the exam. So if they don’t do well they have to wait until the next year to take the exam. It’s a day that they have been preparing for their entire lives which also explains why the suicide rates soar this time of year. On this day, businesses open late, highschools close, people are encouraged to stay off the roads to help students get to the testing site.

Here are some crazy things that happen on this day. If you forget your student ID, a police car will go get it for you. Parents will literally be outside of the school holding banners supporting their kids and praying they do well. Parents also participate in a religious gathering to pray for their child to do well. Miyeok guk (미역국) is strictly prohibited because it will cause the answers to slip out of their head. Sticky candy is a yes because it will help you stick to the university you want to get into.

Bringing tofu to prison. It’s not the cooked tofu. When you’re on your way to pick up a friend or family member from prison, you bring a chuck of tofu with you and then the person released from prison takes a big bite of the tofu. Because the tofu is pearly white, it’s a symbol of cleansing the soul and a new beginning. By eating the tofu, the convict resolves to living a crime-free life moving forward.

Throwing salt in the vicinity of someone who left bad energy. Back in the day, a lot of Koreans believed in spirits and ghosts. They believed the root cause of illnesses and just bad things rooted from bad spirits. So say that a Karen walks into your restaurant and you don’t want her negative energy to stay in your restaurant. You just throw salt at the entrance where she walked out.

화이팅 (hwa-i-ting): it technically says fighting but in Korea it means ‘you got this/good luck!’

Wearing a hair roll. And you'll often see people holding a mirror and fixing their makeup in public.

Doing skincare on the plane, including sheet masks.

The tipping culture. In Korea, after you eat at a restaurant, you do not leave extra tip for the waiters.

Smiling when you make eye contact with a stranger. In the US when you’re walking and you make eye contact with a stranger, smiling at them is not considered weird at all. However, if you smile at a stranger in Korea, they might think you’re weird.

Skinship (스킨십) is used to describe the act of intimate and not sexual touching between you and anyone close to you. It can include close friends, family members, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. For example, hugging, locking your arms, kiss on the cheek, holding hands.

Never write someone’s name in red ink because it symbolizes death.

Number 4 is unlucky because it symbolizes death. Fun fact: since number 4 is unlucky in Korea a lot of people refuse to live on the fourth floor which is why a lot of the time fourth floor rooms are a lot cheaper.

Do not place a mirror in front of the front door because it reflects all of the good luck that tries to come in inside your house.

Do not gift shoes to your significant other because it will cause them to run away from you.

A lot of times when Korean celebrities are exposed for bad behavior, international fans say things like “who cares, if they’re good at their job, that’s all that matters.” However, that is not the case in Korea. Even in the show Produce 101 they spilled coke on the ground to see if the girls will do anything off camera. Among the girls who acted like they didn’t see anything because it wasn’t their mess, Kim Se-Jeong cleaned up everything and became more popular.

Not saying ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes. Some people say we say ‘bless you’ because when we sneeze our soul leaves our body and ‘bless you’ is used as protection from the Devil, but in Korea it’s not a thing.
 
Girls holding hands. In Korea it is very common to see girls holding hands with each other and walking with their arms locked to each other. It just means their besties.
 
Seeing no color in the streets during the winter time. Long black puffer. So I need to say more? Everyone wears them. It’s definitely one of those things where you didn’t know you needed it until you got it.

Deodorant. Because East Asians lack the gene for smelly armpits, a lot of Koreans don;t wear deodorant which makes deodorant really hard to find in Korea.

Tampons. Although Koreans do use tampons, it is a lot harder to find different sizes and varieties of tampons.

Foundation. It’s a lot harder to find variety in foundation shades in Korea.

Full-sized towels. Koreans like to use small-sized towels for its convenience so it is a little harder to find full-sized ones.

Korean public transportation is extremely efficient and cheap. If you have any of the t-money cards, depending on how many times you transfer, you’ll be spending a maximum $2 per trip.

In a lot of places you’ll find soju is cheaper than water.

Don’t expect to have personal space, especially if you’re out in the city like Seoul.

South Korea is a safe country with low crime rates but of course, when it gets late at night, you do have to be careful.

The Korean entertainment industry has been flooded by bullying allegations recently and here are some things you should know. A lot of international fans argue that everyone gets bullied in school and it’s not that big of a deal.

But here are some main differences between bullying in America and bullying in Korea. To start off, in English there is the term ‘bullying’, but in Korea they just use the acronym for 학교 (hak-kio, ‘school’) and 폭력/폭행 (pog-lyeog/pog-haeng, ‘violence’) and say 학폭 (hak-pok). The fact that the term ‘violence’ is used to describe bullying, you kind of really know how serious it is. Bullying in Korean schools isn’t really stealing someone's lunch money or calling someone a mean name. The act of bullying in Korea is literally wanting to prove superiority by completely degrading someone’s dignity. The bullying you see in k-dramas happens in real life.

Mouth tail that’s raised upwards - gives off a “softer” look even when you’re not smiling.

Big ear lobes - symbolize good luck and prosperity.

Round forehead.

Full undereye - makes you look youthful.

Besides toilet paper and cleaning supplies being something everyone can never have too much of, cleaning supplies bring good luck and fortune to the person who moves into the new home. The bubbles and the detergent symbolize prosperity, wealth and stability for the recipient. The long length of toilet paper symbolizes long healthy life and just how easily the toilet paper unravels, the gift giver desires continued success for the recipient and for everything in life to unravel smoothly.

You probably already know that Korean students wear uniforms, but you probably don’t know how strict they are when it comes to not just dress code but physical appearance. Throughout the years the rules have become more lenient but at one point all female students had to have the same hair length. You weren;t allowed to wear makeup, you weren’t allowed to have piercings and you know kids are on break when they bleach their hair. Recently they went after schools in Seoul that had dress codes talking about bras, stockings and socks. Because the school uniform shirt is white, the dress code states that you have to wear a white or a skin-tone bra. Not quite sure if it’s gonna make a crazy difference but at least they can’t call you out for it.

About a decade ago, the most common household was comprised of 4 people, but now that number is 1. The marriage rate and birth rate hit all-time lows and the number of people living alone is continuing to skyrocket. To accommodate this big group of people living alone starting in November [2021] Seoul city is rolling out the door-to-door service. One of the biggest downsides to living alone is that you’re kinda left alone during times of emergency or when you have to go to the hospital. The door-to-door service allows someone to come to your house to escort you to the hospital and just become your helping hand. The service rate has been set to ₩5,000 ($4,25) an hour and the service is expected to be especially helpful for the elders living alone. But there are some mixed responses. While there are positive ones, there are also safety concerns.

From ages 18 to 28, if you are a healthy Korean man, you have to serve in the military for a little bit less than 2 years.

The first reason is kind of obvious. South Korea is still at war. We’re only a couple of weeks into 2022 and North Korea fired its fourth missile test. And unlike in other countries like the US, a lot of Koreans do not voluntarily join the military. So without conscription it is impossible to have enough military in case something were to happen.

There are times when healthy Korean men can get military exemption like soccer player Son Heung-Min who won a gold medal for South Korea at the 2018 Asian games.

The phrase 잘먹었습니다 (jal-meog-eoss-seub-nid-a) which is said after eating, meaning “I ate well.” Or 잘먹겠습니다 (jal-meog-gess-seub-ni-da) which is said before eating, meaning “I’ll eat well.”

The 90 degree bow.

The Korean age will always be at least a year older than the international age because they count the time you spend in the womb before being born. Even though Koreans do celebrate their birthdays, everyone turns 1 year older on January 1st. Here’s how to calculate your Korean age: take the current year, add one and subtract your birth year.

In most countries, including the US and European countries divorce rates have gone up because of economic difficulty and longer time staying at home. But the complete opposite is happening in Korea. Compared to 2019, there was a 4 percent drop in divorce rate and there is an 18 percent drop in October 2021 compared to October 2020.

Some say that the decrease in big family gatherings resulting from the pandemic has led the divorce rate to drop. One of the main reasons for divorce in Korea is the conflict between the married woman and the mother-in-law. Another reason is the 회식 (hoe-sig, ‘dinner with coworkers’) after work and the drinking culture in Korea becoming very limited because of Covid. Less couples are fighting about their spouse not coming home earlier.

‘Call.’ Koreans say 콜 (kol) when they’re down to do something or they’re up for a challenge.

노답 (no-dab, ‘no reply’). Koreans use the English word ‘no’ and the Korean word 답 to make nodab and they say something like 재는 진짜 노답이다 (jae-neun jin-jja no-dab-i-da) which translate o ‘I have no words to say about that person.’

By crime reenactment I literally mean criminals reenacting their own crime. Also, the media is invited for maximum humiliation of the criminal. This does get controversial because it’s a conflict between the public’s right to and the individual's right to privacy. Police say public pressure on authorities after a major crime is immense.

Some police believe that crime reenactment is unjust law just for the public to take their rage on that individual. Because of this some police believe that crime reenactment should be done privately but some people believe if these crime reenactments are done privately, they're not going to be done thoroughly.

입이 심심하다 (ib-i sim-sim-ha-da). This is a phrase you use when you get the munchies or you’re hungry but it translates to ‘my mouth is bored.’

나이 많이 먹었네 (na-i manh-i meog-eoss-ne). This phrase is the same as ‘you’re getting old’ but the translation says ‘you’re eating age.’

손목 (son-mog). Sonmog is wrist, but the translation is ‘hand neck.’ I guess it does act like the neck for your hand.

추석 (Chu-seok) translates into ‘autumn eve’ and it’s one of the biggest Korean traditional holidays. It’s a major harvest festival and a 3-day holiday held around the autumn equinox. Chuseok celebrates the bountiful harvest and strives for the next year to be better than the last.

Traditionally on Chuseok families would go back to their hometowns, wear hanboks and pay respect to the spirits of their ancestors. Some of the foods we eat on Chuseok are many different kinds of 전 (jeon) - Korean fritter, 송편 (song-pyeon) - rice cake, 잡채 (jab-chae) - Korean noodles and 불고기 (bul-go-gi) - marinated beef.

Plain, unsweetened white bread is hard to find. Maybe if you go to a cafe you’re not gonna find a full loaf of bread, but there are bakeries everywhere in Korea and they all do carry plain bread.

Shredded cheese is hard to find in Korea. Maybe like 10 years ago. But now it’s super easy to find and Koreans love to put cheese on everything: cheese dak galbi (닭갈비), spicy cheese ribs and cheese tonkatsu.

Here are some of the mint chocolate chip options that are available in Korea: aside from the mint chocolate chicken there’s also mint chocolate milk, mint chocolate donuts, triple mint chocolate ice cream flavors, mint chocolate toothpaste and mint chocolate tteokbokki (떡볶이).

First New Year is at the start of the solar calendar and the second New Year is at the start of the Lunar calendar.

The second New Year called 설날 (seol-lal) in Korean and it is a 3-day event that celebrates the day before, the day of and the day after New Years. The celebration begins with everyone in the family wearing Korean traditional clothing called 한복 (han-bok). Most ceremonial rituals on soeollal is performed in se-bae (세배, “a deep bow to the floor”) to the deceased ancestors. And you gather around the family table to eat tteog-gug (떡국).

You have to be right handed. Using your right hand as your dominant hand was the norm. So when a baby held the spoon or a pencil using their left hand, a lot of parents just switched it out for them to use their right hand.

You can’t pierce your ears. There was just this mentality of why poke a hole into your body. In other countries it is a culture for parents to pierce their baby girl’s ears, but in Korea it is rare to see babies with their ears pierced.

May 5th is Children’s Day, May 8th is Parents’ Day and May 15th is Teachers’ Day.

Children’s day is a national holiday so everyone gets a day off work to spend time with their family. Traditionally on Children’s Day parents buy presents for their kids or they go on little small vacations. For children’s day J-Hope donated ₩100 million (about $83k) to support children in Tanzania who are exposed to violence. And Suzy donated ₩100 million to support children in orphanages and young adults who are no longer protected by child welfare institutions.

눈치 (nun-chi). It is basically interpersonal skills where you’re able to catch on other people’s feelings through language or body language and act a certain way according to how that person feels.

썸 (sseom). Although ‘some’ is an English word, Koreans use the word to define people who are in the ‘talking phase.’

애교 (ae-gyo). It is just being sweet, cutesy and in a way childlike but still perceived to be cute.

Every season American franchises operating in Korea put a Korean twist on the menu and create items that only exist in Korea. For example, Starbucks released their green tea cold brew and dark chocolate blended with banana whipping cream as well as the banana desserts for the summer season.

Because mint chocolate is trending like crazy in Korea, Baskin Robbins added a mint chocolate ice cream with chocolate balls and a triple chip chocolate mint on their menu as well as a wasabi almond ice cream flavor.

Diary day on January 14th where you gift to each other blank diaries that symbolizes brand new year, brand new goals.

In Korea, it’s typically the girls doing the gift giving on Valentine’s Day.

Then comes the White Day on March 14th for the guys to do the gift giving.

On April 14th comes Black Day, the day of mild mourning when all the single friends get together and eat Jajangmyeon (자장면, ‘black bean noodles’).

And of course, the Pepero Day on November 11th.

Koreans do the 짠 (cchan) which is technically just a sound effect like ‘click.’ There is also 건배 (geon-bae) which translates into cheers.

별똥별(byeol-ttong-byeol) is a shooting star but translates into ‘star poop star’ or ‘star pooping out a star.’

불꽃 (bul-kkot) is fireworks which translates into ‘fire flowers.’

진짜 붕어빵이다 (jin-jja bung-eo-ppang-i-da). 붕어 (bung-eo) is a fish shaped pastry. Koreans use that phrase in reference to those who look alike.

Say that you’re hanging out with a group of friends and you’re sitting at the table when someone says “I saw a pig in my dream last night.” There’s going to be someone who says 그 꿈 나한테 팔아 (geu kkum na-han-te pal-a, ‘Sell me that dream’). In Korea it’s believed that if a pig appears in your dream, you’re going to have good luck. Also, when a Korean sees a pig in their dream, it’s pretty often that they go straight to the convenience store to buy a lottery ticket.

Typically the dreams are sold to friends for a dollar to $10 - nothing too crazy.

A traditional food that Koreans eat on New Year's Day on January 1st is tteog-gug (떡국) which is rice cake soup. In Korea everyone turns a year older on January 1st. In celebration of turning a year older the reason Koreans choose this particular tteog is because of the long length that symbolizes long life. And then the long rice cake is cut into coin shapes to symbolize wealth and lastly the white color symbolizes purity and a fresh start to the new year.