Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: (a) Koreans usually eat a bowl of miyeokguk (seaweed soup), typically for breakfast, on their birthday. ------------------- Like in many cultures, Koreans mark special occasions and events by eating and sharing certain foods. They include Lunar New Year and Chuseok – the two big...

In Korea, it is considered rude to look directly into someone’s eyes during a conversation, especially if you are being scolded or rebuked by your seniors or elders. In some cultures, making eye contact is a non-verbal part of communication; however, this is not the same in Korean culture. For example, when a Korean student is being scolded by their teacher, they usually look down at the floor. ...

Hangover drinks are a multi-billion won industry, despite lacking medical backing

A look at legal precedents related to various hazards that occur at after-work get-togethers

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: ⓓ South Korea is technically still at war with North Korea and most men here are trained shooters, stemming from their experience as active-duty conscripts. But not even the president -- the most powerful elected official and chief military commander -- can freely carry a gun. O...

In Korea, people often use honorifics and appellations such as eonni (older sister) and oppa (older brother) when speaking with someone else. This is because Koreans generally follow the Confucian tradition of speaking differently with someone who is older versus someone who is younger. This is why Koreans will often ask others their age or the year they were born at the start of a conversation....

Stigmatization around Korean equivalent to ma’am leaves a large number of Korean women without proper terms of address

From muddy farmland to vertical metropolis -- Seoul’s most dramatic transformation

Seagulls are seen as pests elsewhere, but in Korea city dwellers sometimes pay to feed them

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: ⓒ With summer just around the corner and the pandemic losing its grip, people are starting to make plans on where to go for their vacations and for how long. In 2021, Korean workers took an average of 3.7 days off for summer holidays, according to a survey conducted on 720 firms b...

If you are invited to a housewarming party in the States, you might bring food, snacks, or a bottle of wine. But housewarming parties in Korea known as jipdeuri have a different tradition. Koreans bring rolls of toilet paper or laundry detergent, the two most common jipdeuri gifts. The meaning behind giving toilet paper is that the giver is wishing the recipient continued success and good healt...

Metro operators selling more station names to cover deficits amid a yearslong freeze in fares, free ride offerings to seniors

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. Answer: 아니 아직 Ani, I have not. “Ani,” which usually means “no” in Korean, may be one of the most versatile expressions in the Korean language. The most common usage of “ani” is as an exclamation you say in order to disagree. You can say “ani” as the response to a question or to correct a ...

People often use pet names for their significant others, but “brother” or “sister” is usually off the table. In Korea, many young women will call the person they are in a relationship with “oppa” -- the same word that Korean people use for “older brother.“ It may sound strange to foreigners, especially if you are watching a TV drama, but for Koreans, it merely means that they are referring to the...

Honorific titles can be tricky in many cultures, but can be particularly baffling in South Korea -- where various factors like social status, age, work experience and even social prejudice can be factored in. This is part one of a series on the myriad ways people address each other in the Korean language. -- Ed. In a scene played for laughs in the 2016 movie “Doctor Strange,” the titular protago...