I lived in Korea for a number of years, and most of what I’ve read here is accurate.  However, I have to disagree on the tea statement.  Koreans are very into tea.  They tend to always drink a form of Barely tea instead of water.  They also drink Green/black tea on quite a regular basis - for the most part. Koreans also have a variety of fruit tea’s that most westerners find very good.  One that is a favorite is Yuga Cha (a very sweet lemon tea) and Maeshil Cha (a plum team).

- Posted on Saturday, June 7, 2003 at 18:29 [ Permalink to this comment ]

SOME CORRECTIONS FROM AN INSIDER’S PERSPECTIVE…

- high cell phone usage; cells provided mainly by a company called Cyon; most rings are answered immediately with no apology (incl. in restaurants, in the middle of conversations, in bathrooms, and on subways)

WE DON’T HAVE PARTICULAR REGULATIONS NOT TO PICK UP THE PHONE IN RESTAURANTS, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CONVERSATIONS, IN BATHROOMS, AND ON SUBWAYS. DO YOU? IT’S KIND OF ANNOYING WHEN SOMEONE INTERRUPTS THE CONVERSATION BY PICKING UP THEIR RINGING MOBILE PHONES, ISN’T IT?
BY THE WAY, “CYON” IS NOT A COMPANY NAME. IT’S JUST A BRAND NAME. BESIDES, THE MOST POPULAR BRAND IS NOT CYON BUT TTL.

- the ENTIRE border to North Korea is lined with barb wire, military
stations & spotlights… and North Korea has built huge apts. in sight of
Seoul to show their economic independence (btw, all the apts. are empty)

WELL, CAN’T HELP SAYING, NORTH KOREANS AREN’T THAT STUPID TO MAKE SUCH AN EFFORT. CHECK THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SEOUL AND THE DMZ (DE-MILITARIZED ZONE. COME ON, EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT THEY DON’T EVEN HAVE ENOUGH FOOD TO FEED THE PEOPLE. THEY EXPLICITLY ASK FOR HELP TO THE SOUTH KOREAN GOVERNMENT ON THIS MATTER RATHER THAN TRYING TO PROOVE THEIR ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE.
MEANWHILE, UNLESS YOU’VE ALSO TRAVELED TO NORTH KOREA, HOW DO YOU KNOW IF THE APARTMENTS ARE EMPTY OR NOT. GEE, I NEVER KNEW NORTH KOREANS WERE SO OPEN TO FORIGNERS.

- the myth is true: toilet paper, which is packaged in multiple ways, is
used as a napkin, paper towel and face tissue—even in offices and restaurants

SO WHAT? WE DON’T USE THE TOILET PAPER FOR THOSE PURPOSES AFTER WE USED IT IN THE TOILET.

- Koreans drink instant coffee 2-4x a day; don’t really drink any type of tea regularly (more a Japanese cultural thing)

YEAH, MANY DRINK INSTANT COFFEE, BUT MANY DRINK COFFEE FROM COFEE BEANS AS WELL. I DON’T MIND AMERICANS EATING READY-MADE VEGETABLES WHICH WE HARDLY DO.
BY THE WAY, I WOULD RATHER SAY THAT, DRINKING TEA IS A RATHER ASIAN & EUROPEN CULTURE.

- Korean suburbs are actually HUGE apt complexes… 8-12 buildings per
complex, each building 20 floors tall, each floor 4-6 apts.

THE STRUCTURE AND TYPE OF THE BUILDINGS VARIES.

- no real concept of privacy or solitude, esp. when family is over… you are always “on” and engaged

HMM...DO NOT GENERALIZE HASITLY. ANYWAY, KOREAN CULTURE HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED IN A WAY THAT APPRECIATES “PRIVACY” THAT MUCH. WE’RE MORE IN TO FAMILY VALUES.

- the roles are still distinct between men and women… traditionally, the women will cook and eat after the men

EAT AFTER MEN? HMMM...NOT SURE WHICH GENERATION YOU ARE REFERRING TO. TRUTH IS, IT IS CRUCIAL TO NOTE THAT KOREAN SOCIETY HAVE HAD EXTREME TRANSITIONS AND CHANGES THROUCHOUT THE CONTEMPORARY HISTORY, THAT MAKES ONE VERY CAUTIOUS TO BE AWARE OF WHAT KIND OF KOREANS ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

- all highways are toll roads, usually costing between $100-2000 won (about

$100-2000 won??? WHAT KIND OF CURRENCY ARE YOU REFERRING TO?

- kids spend 8-10 hours in school, then 2-5hrs in an after-school program (called hogwa)

IT’S CALLED “HA:G-WON”, SPEAKING OF MISPELLING.

- if home, families are expected to eat and sit together

IS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE UNUSUAL?

- every meal includes a spicy dish, usually 2-4 kimchee variations (of 100+ types)

IT’S RARE TO SEE MORE THAN ONE KIMCHEE ON THE TABLE NOWADAYS. PERSONALLY, I DON’T EAT KIMCHEE AT ALL. 

- 1/5 signs are in English, 1/5 are in Korean spelling phonetic English,
most highway signs include English “subtitles”

CAN I ASK YOUR REFERENCE OF THE SUGGESTED FIGURES?
ANYWAY, ISN’T IT GREAT THAT WE HAVE ENGLISH “SUBTITLES” ON OUR HIGHWAY SIGNS? I BET THERE’S NO KOREAN “SUBTITLES” OR HARDLY ANY FOR OTHER MINORITY GROUPS IN AMERICA. PLEASE AWAKEN ME IF I’M MISINFORMED.

- American movies are subtitled in Korean

SO? WE’RE KOREANS WHOSE LANGUAGE IS KOREAN, WATCHING AN AMERICAN MOVIE. I’M SURE YOU GUYS WON’T DO THE SAME THING IN AMERICA, CAUSE YOU GUYS ARE AMERICANS. NO NEED TO PUT KOREAN SUBTITLES FOR YOUR AMERICAN MOVIES.

- most product packaging contains English mispellings for some reason

I’M CURIOUS WHAT ARE THOSE REASONS? ENLIGHTEN ME IF YOU KNOW. MEANWHILE, I HAVE TO ADMIT THAT NOT ALL KOREANS, INCLUDING MYSELF HAVE AN EXCELLENT COMMAND OF ENGLISH AS IT’S NOT THEIR MOTHER TONGUE. THAT’S WHY WE TRY TO LEARN AS MUCH AS WE CAN. HOW IS THE SECOND LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN AMERICA?

- Koreans love small house dogs, but raise & eat a different type of dog for dog stew (uh-huh)

KOREANS WHO KEEP SMALL HOUSE DOGS TEND TO NOT EAT THE “BO-SHIN-TANG (DOG MEAT STEW)”. IT’S TRUE THAT, AS A TRADITIONALLY AGRIGARIAN SOCIETY, DOG MEAT WAS A SOURCE OF HIGH PROTAIN AND MEDICINE IN TIMES OF FAMINE AND DISEASES THROUGHOUT THE ALMOST 5,000 YEARS OF HISTORY IN KOREA. WELL...IT’S A PITY, CAUSE IN THE PAST, WE DIDN’T SLAUGHTER SO MUCH DOMESTIC ANIMALS AT ALL. DARN GLOBALIZATION! A CURSE FROM A VEGETARIAN.

- most of the houses and restaurants have heated floors (mmm) which creates very dry heat… in the winters, I’m told they burn coal to heat the floors

KOREANS USED TO USE COAL TO HEAT UP THE FLOOR UP TO THE THE 70S. NOWADAYS, HARDLY.

- most Koreans sit on the floor, incl. homes and restaurants

YEAH. IT’S THE SAME PRINCIPLE OF ZEN SITTING.

- cities have high levels of pollution due to many factories and constant traffic… if the U.S. pollution average is 100, Seoul is 2000 (my biggest challenge for the entire trip was a burned throat and a hoarse cough)

THE POLLUTION ISSUE IS EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING IN SEOUL.
BY THE WAY, IS IT USUAL TO COMPARE THE AVERAGE POLLUTION OF THE WHOLE COUNTRY WITH A CAPITAL CITY WHICH FORMS A DENSE METROPOLITAN AREA?
I GUESS IF YOU COMPARE L.A. WITH SEOUL, SEOUL WOULD BE, ABOUT 1.5 TIMES WORSE THAN L.A.. HOWEVER, IF YOU COMPARE L.A. WITH DAEJON, L.A. WOULD BE, LET’S SAY TWO TIMES WORSE THAN DAEJON.

- I have observed little attention to design, fengshui, space—Koreans have a similar concept called “pungso” (ex., most buildings face south) but it’s not really practiced

YOU HAVE OBSERVED LITTLE.
LET ME JUST CORRECT ONE THING. FENGSHUI IS A CHINESE PRONUNCIATION OF “POONG-SOO”, MEANING IT’S NOT JUST A SIMILAR CONCEPT BUT ACTUALLY IT’S THE SAME.

- almost always, shoes are removed at the entrance of a home, template and restaurant

AT HOME, YES ALWAYS, BUT NOT ALWAYS AT RESTAURANTS. IF YOU REMOVE YOUR SHOES, YOU CAN KEEP THE FLOOR CLEAN LONGER. MAYBE YOU CAN TRY IT. ANYWAYS, THAT’S WHY WE WASH OUR FEET WHENEVER WE COME BACK FROM OUTSIDE, AND THAT’S WHY OUR FLOORS ARE WARM AND CLEAN. COMPATIBLE HEATING SYSTEM, THAT IS.

- Koreans tend to be either Christian or Buddhist

BUT THE PERVASIVE VALUES ARE BASED ON CONFUCIANISM.

- overall diet tends to be healthy (rice, fish, soup, vegetables)… but Koreans actually love junk food (incl. their version of American hotdogs, fried potatoes, pizza which has corn and squid)

LOVING JUNK FOOD, IS THIS A “KOREAN” PHENOMENA?

- while their meals often takes a long time to prepare, Koreans eat extremely fast with little beverage and eat all day… the order food seems
to be served is side dishes, meat/seafood, rice, a little water…

AGAIN, EATING BEHAVIOR IS HARD TO GENERALIZE. BESIDES, EATING FAST HAS A LOT TO DO WITH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
LITTLE BEVERAGE? IN WHAT SENSE?
EAT ALL DAY? HMM...WELL, KOREANS DO ENJOY FOOD AND EATING, BUT DID YOU NOT SEE HOW CAREFUL THEY ARE OF THEIR DIETS IN ORDER TO KEEP AN “ACCEPTABLE” WEIGHT?

OVERALL COMMENT: NO CULTURE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD EVEN REMOTELY WITHOUT IT’S HISTORICAL, POLITICAL, SOCIOCULTURAL CONTEXT IN WHICH THE CULTURE IS EMBEDDED. I VOTE FOR SOME RESPECT FOR CULTURAL REALTIVISM.
I SHARE YOUR OBSERVATION ON GENDER ROLES, OVER-CONSUMPTIONS OF TOBACCO AND ALCOHOL, POLLUTION, TOO-MANY-TOO-BIG SIGNS OF THE SHOPS…

- Posted on Friday, July 25, 2003 at 6:23 [ Permalink to this comment ]

You know, Mr. Kyung, I find your comments absolutely laughable.  I’ve never seen anyone so overly defensive.  Talk about Paranoia!  This small article is titled: “A quick profile of South Korea.” That’s exactly what it is.  Being Korean, I have lived in South Korea for the majority of my life and I found that the vast majority of the article is correct. - for a quick profile.  The writer is only trying to inform a prospective visitor of S. Korea on what to expect.  It wasn’t negative in the least.  BTW It is a known fact by most Koreans that the North Koreans did build those apartment buildings, and that they are NOT occupied by anyone.  The pollution problem is not just bad in Seoul, it’s bad in pretty much every city here in Korea.  I would also venture to say that Daejon’s pollution problem is worse than L.A.
I would respectifully ask anyone reading this to disregard the negative attitude of Mr. Kyung.  Not all Koreans are like him, and most of us are flattered when others take an interest in our society and culture.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at 11:39 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I AGREE WITH LEE.  NOT ALL OF US ARE AS DISRESPECTFUL AS KYUNG WHA YEO IS.  THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IS AN ACCURATE SNAPSHOP OF KOREA.

- Posted on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at 11:44 [ Permalink to this comment ]

The cell phone statement is completely correct!  They will always(!) answer their phones! Doesn’t matter where or when. On a date, in the bathroom, during dinner, in a movie (ok, not ALWAYS on this, but often), you name it.

- Posted on Saturday, November 1, 2003 at 18:59 [ Permalink to this comment ]

- Posted on Monday, December 1, 2003 at 10:56 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I think that the writer of this article must study a lot about Korea since a lot of points are so distorted. GO STUDY MORE -_-; They are so trivial even to mention about… {e.g. the point about English mispelling? go see “hogwa” and “pungso”.. i was so lost at frist lolll!!} if u have time for degrading another country with tons of incorrect “facts”, rather go sleep more and relax ur brain first… ^_^; u guys are so slow for global village .; I so agree to all the feedbacks that Kyung Wha Yeo came up with!!!
CAN YOU GUYS PLZ PLZPLZPLZPLZ LEARN MORE -_-?
so fed up with all these nonsense lolll ~

- Posted on Friday, December 12, 2003 at 0:14 [ Permalink to this comment ]

To whom it may concern,

Yes, there are many negative points which are true about Korean culture. However, there are many negative points which I can find true about my own country (Canada). For instance, in South Korea, the main question during a job interview does not focus on what a person cannot do and this is intrinsically Canadian. Instead, the interview normally ends with
“Oh, you appear to be well-qualified for this job.” “When can you start?” This is something that we have certainly lost along the way in Canada.

I am not bashing Canada but merely telling you about my own personal experience as a bonified professional. It is lamentable that Canada, because of all it’s leftist, pinko-commi agenda has really become “a big wimp” on the world scene. Furthermore, many Canadians working back in Canada quote JFK and say to me” Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” I’m sorry fellow Canucks, that ideology does not pay for my bills or put food on the table for my family.

- Posted on Sunday, December 21, 2003 at 22:40 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Although I understand generalizations are the quickest way to explain a culture, I couldn’t help by notice the comment about the coffee and tea. Besides tea being hardly a Japanese thing, tea has been a strong tradition in Korea (although the type of tea may vary depending on economic status, family background, etc.), and many Koreans still drink tea outside of their homes. It’s possible that professionals may have to resort to some quick coffee during the day, but tea is probably offered in their workplace as well.

- Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006 at 14:45 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Ah, forgot to mention, most restaurants offer tea as the default beverage to Korean adults rather than ice water. Westerners tend to request certain type of beverage (including water) so this may be why tea wasn’t encountered often, even though it should have been all around. Most Koreans tend to drink boricha (roast barley tea) over water, whenever available.

- Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006 at 14:52 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I have lived in Korea for 4 years and the comments are a generalization. Yeah it may be the quickest to describe a culture but it may be very subject views of the observer. Next time if you don’t know the facts don’t write about it. Yeah pollution, go check out NY, London, Rome.....
People can be critical all they want with other cultures but don’t write about it if you don’t know the facts. There are good things as well as bad things in all cultures and people live in these cultures and YOU have offened them with this so called list! Look at your culture and see if its so perfect.

I do not agree with most on this list. It is misinformed.

- Posted on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 at 14:08 [ Permalink to this comment ]

well, I think it’s 70% right about what he said but if you want to write about the country, I think you need to spend more time to learn and experiance the curture. I strongly disagree about the woman eats after man..I couldn’t stop laughing I don’t know what kind of people you met but you are talking about 50-60 years ago (even then)…

- Posted on Monday, February 5, 2007 at 16:04 [ Permalink to this comment ]

Hi, I have a Korean student who wipes his butt when goes poop and then throws it in my garbage can in the bathroom. He says this is what they do in Korea. I was alarmed, is this what they do?

- Posted on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 13:27 [ Permalink to this comment ]

I too have a Korean student staying with me.  She forgot to flush the toilet one day and when I went in, there was no toilet paper in the toilet.
Is there a chance she didn’t wipe at all?

- Posted on Thursday, May 24, 2007 at 3:25 [ Permalink to this comment ]