[Land of Squid Game] Waiting until the oldest person starts eating

In Korea, once you're seated at the table, it is common etiquette to wait until the oldest person starts eating before you start enjoying your meal. Also, before taking your first bite, it's polite to say “Jal-meok-get-sseumnida” or “I'll eat well” as a way to express your gratitude for the host. Add this phrase to your Korean dining etiquette list and you will never have to worry about offending your Korean friends. Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair pr

Jan. 24, 2023

It's Seollal, and you've got Spam

Spam is one of the most popular gift items in South Korea, particularly during the Lunar New Year gift-giving season. A spam gift set typically holds stacks of cans, sometimes combined with cooking oils and other everyday condiments, in boxes of various sizes and prices. On Gmarket, the country’s largest online marketplace, Spam gift sets are sold starting from under 20,000 won ($16) to over 120,000 won. “Spam gained popularity as a holiday gift since the 2000s. Gift sets account f

Jan. 22, 2023

N. Korea to impose harsher penalties on use of S. Korean slang

North Korea is clamping down on the use of South Korean slang and expressions, which experts in Seoul see as a response to the growing influence of South Korean dramas and films in the reclusive state. According to the North’s official Korean Central News Agency, the communist regime has adopted new legislation that seeks to impose stronger punishment on its residents who taint the “Pyongyang standard language” with foreign influences. It was among the issues and agenda items d

Jan. 19, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Only for the pregnant

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Upon entering certain Seoul subway cars, there are single seats at the end of a row, colored in pink. These pink seats mark priority sitting exclusively for pregnant women, a system that was first introduced by the Seoul government for transit buses in 2009 and the subway in 2013. Since then, pregnancy priority seating has been added to publi

Jan. 18, 2023

[Korean Dilemma] Is time up for feasts for ghosts of Korea's patriarchal past?

The Korean tradition of ancestral rites has been passed down through generations for thousands of years. But it may be only a matter of time before the ritual disappears for good. The lighting of incense, circling of rice wine and bowing before a table of assorted food items offered to one’s dead ancestors are called “charye” on major holidays like Seollal (New Year’s Day) and Chuseok, and “jesa” on their death anniversaries. The tradition itself means well. B

Jan. 17, 2023

Chase bunnies in Year of the Rabbit

2023 is the Year of the Black Rabbit. The furry, nimble animal, long associated with fertility and prosperity, has already been appearing at various places across Seoul, embodying Koreans’ wish for the year to be a fruitful one. Following are some of the places you can find the bunnies. Giant bunnies On a recent Tuesday afternoon, foreign tourists took pictures near a 12-meter-tall rabbit sculpture holding a traditional Korean lucky bag, set up at Gwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul earli

Jan. 17, 2023

[Land of Squid Game] Pouring drinks for others

In Korea, liquor and beer are served in a bottle and people will pour drinks for others at the table as a way to show friendliness for their friends and coworkers (and as a sign of respect for their seniors). Additionally, it's mostly the younger ones being courteous by pouring drinks for their elders and seniors. So, next time you meet your Korean acquaintances, you know how not to offend them while drinking. Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is wi

Jan. 17, 2023

[Newsmaker] [Hello Hangeul] 'Hangeul education is basic right for multicultural students'

Publicly offered Korean language education for children from immigrant and foreign families is necessary because they are entitled to learn the language as part of their human rights, said Seoul City's education chief, stressing the need to expand quality high-level classes currently limited to adults. “Students of multicultural backgrounds should be given a chance to learn the Korean language as a basic human right that they are entitled to,” said Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent

Jan. 15, 2023

[Subway Stories] Pangyo, a magnet for innovative talent, startups and tech moguls

The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring the subway stations and surrounding areas in and around the city. -- Ed. Surrounded by glossy office buildings, a department store and apartment complexes, the Pangyo Station area looks like a more spacious and suburban version of the area around Seoul’s Samseong Station. Built on what used to be forests and farms growing flowers and vegetables that had been a greenbelt zone until the early 2000s, the resident

Jan. 14, 2023

[Korean History] Is reunification of Korea still a goal, 70 years on?

“History through The Korea Herald” revisits significant events and issues over the seven decades through articles, photos and editorial pieces published in the Herald and retell them from a contemporary perspective. – Ed. “Re-unification of Korea is goal, Rhee,” says the front page of The Korea Herald, then called The Korean Republic, in its founding edition on Aug. 15, 1953. To today’s Koreans, this message from the late inaugural President Syngman Rhee may

Jan. 11, 2023

[Newsmaker] After 'giant' interest rate hikes, are savers better off?

When a small provincial branch of NongHyup Bank offered an online-exclusive installment savings plan with an annual interest of 8.2 percent in November last year, the news spread like wildfire among savvy savers. It sold like lottery tickets. Within hours, the bank sold 900 billion won ($707.8 million) of saving products, which was more than five times the size of the branch's total assets of 167 billion won. The problem was that the rural bank just wanted to attract just 10 billion won of fu

Jan. 11, 2023

[Korea Quiz] (35) Big hands, wide feet, thin ears

Q. Which of the following idiomatic expressions in Korean is matched with the wrong meaning? a. Have big hands: To be open-handed, or generous in giving or spending. b. Have wide feet: To have a wide circle of acquaintances. c. Have thin ears: To be easily swayed by what others say. d: Have heavy hips: To be overweight Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Koreans use body parts in various idioms and everyday expressions. When someone is described as having big hands, it means the per

Jan. 11, 2023

[Newsmaker] South Korea’s most infamous serial killers

Recently, the possibility police discovered a new serial killer sent shock waves across South Korea. Lee Ki-young, who was arrested late last month for the murder of a taxi driver and his ex-girlfriend, will undergo an extensive investigation into additional DNA found inside his home. Looking back, South Korea’s history of serial killers is still considered for its hateful brutality and aggression. Here are three of Korea’s most notorious serial killers: 1. Lee Choon-jae, the &l

Jan. 10, 2023

[Land of Squid Game] Covering mouths while laughing

    You will probably see some Korean women covering their mouths when laughing. This doesn't imply that they are shy. Some women will even hide a small laugh behind their hands. This is merely a sign of modesty and politeness. On the other hand, this could give an impression to non-Koreans that Koreans are shy or don't express themselves openly. Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is widely known as a multicultural educator and for his practical

Jan. 10, 2023

[Ask a Lawyer] To marry a Korean, first prove your single status

Last year, South Korean singer-producer DJ Koo Jun-yup’s story of rekindling an old love with Taiwanese star Barbie Hsu made many swoon. Announcing his marriage with the ex-girlfriend, Koo, 53, said he was “resuming the love he had but couldn’t realize 20 years ago.” Through all the sweetness, the international star couple would have gone through some paperwork to become legal husband and wife both in Korea and Taiwan. Hsu, in particular, would have been asked to prov

Jan. 9, 2023

[Land of Squid Game] Standing too close

    Many cultures have different ideas about how much personal space is needed to feel comfortable. Personal space is like a no-fly zone or a bubble around each person. It is an extension of them. If another person, especially a stranger, enters that space; it might seem like a personal violation. For many Westerners, if they can feel someone else's body heat, the other person is definitely too close for comfort. However, people in South Korea have a different concept of personal spa

Jan. 3, 2023

Sky high home prices contribute to low birth rate: study

High cost of housing plays a role in South Korean couples not wanting to have babies, new study suggested, as the country struggles to find ways to reverse a shrinking population. According to the report, released Monday, by the state-affiliated Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, a 1 percent rise in the median home prices leads to 0.002 fewer births per woman. As of end-2021, Korean women had an average of just 0.81 babies over their lifetimes, which was the world’s lowest t

Jan. 3, 2023

[Ask a lawyer] What’s the difference between departure order and deportation?

In July last year, more than 60 Vietnamese were caught organizing, or taking part in, “drug parties” at nightclubs and karaoke bars in Busan and other southern cities. On top of any penalty they had received from Korean law enforcement, the foreigners were given an order to leave the country from the immigration authorities, along with a permanent reentry ban. For some, it was deportation, while others received a departure order. What is the difference? Here, Kim Ju-hyeong, a senior

Jan. 3, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] A snapshot of Korean language now

The following series is part of The Korea Herald’s “Hello Hangeul” project which consists of interviews, in-depth analyses, videos and various other forms of content that shed light on the stories of people who are learning the Korean language and the correlation between Korea’s soft power and the rise of its language within the league of world languages. – Ed. Korean has 81.7 million speakers around the globe, although most of them are found on the Korean Peninsula

Jan. 2, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] Common language, diverse goals

The following series is part of The Korea Herald’s “Hello Hangeul” project which consists of interviews, in-depth analyses, videos and various other forms of content that shed light on the stories of people who are learning the Korean language and the correlation between Korea’s soft power and the rise of its language within the league of world languages. – Ed. South Korea’s thriving popular culture has been drawing an increasing number of curious young pe

Jan. 2, 2023