[Land of Squid Game] Waiting until the oldest person has finished eating before leaving

    As mentioned in earlier columns, respect for older people is something that is ingrained in Korean etiquette and traditions. In Korea, it is common to wait until the oldest person at the table finishes before getting up and leaving. Also, you should try to eat at the same pace as those around you. Although it may seem like a long list of do's and don'ts for dining with Koreans, once you have dined a couple of times in South Korea, you will get used to it. Min Byoung-chul is an end

Feb. 7, 2023

[Hello Hangeul] What not to do to keep Korean culture, language attractive

If countries were people, Korea would be the quiet, hardworking kid who had little chance to show what an interesting person he is, until he started writing great songs and tales that made people cry, laugh and think. If he continues to excel by getting better at understanding others and making himself understood, he will gain influence, or “soft power.” A term coined by American political scientist Joseph Nye Jr., soft power is defined as the ability to affect others to get what y

Feb. 6, 2023

[My Hangeul Story] Meet Billy, YouTube’s self-starter Korean tutor

YouTube is home to a myriad of creators catering to people interested in Korean language and culture, but not many have the presence of Billy Go. The 36-year-old American has nearly 544,000 followers, amassed through a decade of engagement and several hundreds of tutoring clips and posts. His YouTube channel, which started in 2012, “Learn Korean with GO! Billy Korean” mostly features short-form videos of 10 minutes or less that teach the Korean alphabet, words and phrases, as well

Feb. 6, 2023

[Subway Stories] Dongnimmun Station, where memories of heroes are commemorated

Almost immediately, one can feel the nationalistic pride that fills Dongnimmun Station as the taegeuk mark and the four black trigrams of the Taegeukgi, the national flag, can be seen across multiple corners of the Line No.3 terminal. It is one of the few subway stations in Seoul that has its own unique design reflecting the significance of the surrounding areas. Such meaning can be found immediately upon stepping out of exit No. 3, adjacent to a small exhibition hall named “House for

Feb. 4, 2023

[Newsmaker] Why are helicopter parents tailing school trips?

For many Koreans, their most treasured memories from their student days are often of multiday trips to renowned historic or natural sites around the country. These include the UNESCO-recognized historic city of Gyeongju; the country’s wartime capital and now second-biggest city Busan; and Jeju Island, the one and only Korean entry to the World’s Seven Wonders of Nature. However, an online post purportedly written by a teacher about a field trip to Jeju has gone viral, sparking some h

Feb. 2, 2023

[Korean Dilemma] What ChatGPT means for Korea

Just a couple days ago, I spoke to ChatGPT, the revolutionary artificial intelligence chatbot everyone is gushing about. Yes, it was beyond impressive watching the bot produce concise pieces of writing on any given topic with relevant info extracted from mostly English-language sources on the web within seconds. It even spilled out a nice short story about AI and aliens as soon as I asked for it. It may soon be practically pointless for humans to write simple articles, solve math problems or wri

Feb. 1, 2023

[History through The Korea Herald] War orphans, the Holts and seeds borne from tragedy

"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. When the dust from the 1950-53 Korean War settled, orphans were left to fight for survival. It was then a Christian couple from the US -- Harry and Bertha Holt -- stepped in to play a key role in arranging the babies to be adopted by foreign parents. The Holts

Feb. 1, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Some 'bread' isn't as tasty as it sounds

Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Birthdays are a joyous occasion, but some Koreans have an unusual way of celebrating them with saengil-bbang. Saengil-bbang is a combination of the word meaning birthday in Korean -- "saengil" -- and the word “bbang,” which usually means bread or cake. "Bbang" is used here as a suffix to indicate nasty violent celebrations. It refers to the practice in which close friends hit each other on their birthdays. Usually consi

Feb. 1, 2023

[Korean Dilemma] Rigid thinking fuels never-ending test attempts

Sixteen-year-old Koh Yoo-jin spends her winter break at a math hagwon from 9 a.m. through 5 p.m. In the evening, she does her homework and studies other subjects until 1 a.m. Like her peers, she finished learning everything on the high school math curriculum before graduating from middle school, and has since been working on endless drills to prepare herself against “killer questions” in "Suneung," or the College Scholastic Ability Test. Studying for the multiple-choice S

Jan. 31, 2023

[Land of Squid Game] Reaching across the table to grab something

  Koreans prefer to reach across the table to grab something rather than asking another to pass it to them. They do so because they don't want to interrupt those who are eating. However, dining etiquettes may vary from culture to culture and some people may prefer asking a person who is near an item to pass it to them in order to avoid passing their hands over someone else's food. Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is widely known as a multicultural

Jan. 31, 2023

Old, neighborhood bathhouses are an endangered breed

Soaking in hot water with strangers, getting body scrub treatments and eating roasted eggs and sweet rice punch called "sikhye" to rehydrate -- the bathhouse experience often depicted in films and dramas has long been a part of Korean life. But the longstanding communal bathing culture may soon be history, as soaring energy prices deal a cruel blow to an industry already pummeled by the pandemic. Between March 2020 when social distancing rules were introduced and December last year, a

Jan. 27, 2023

[Subway Stories] "Streets of Flavor" in Kondae

There are several hot places to hang out in Seoul, but there are few that does so to the extent of “Kondae street,” located in eastern Seoul adjacent to Konkuk Univ. Station Lines No. 2 and No. 7. Just as the name suggests, the subway station is located right next to Konkuk University campus, with the university hospital next to exits No. 3 and No. 4. The area is always bustling with students, those visiting the hospital, and mostly people out to dine and party across the road with

Jan. 25, 2023

What a roll of gimbap could mean

If you’re a fan of Korean dramas, you would be no stranger to gimbap. The seaweed rice roll, usually filled with various ingredients, are akin to sandwiches in the West. It is easy to get, inexpensive and good for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is the ultimate meal on the go. Recently in K-dramas, this versatile dish has taken on different meanings. In Netflix’s hit drama “The Glory,” protagonist Moon Dong-eun, played by actor Song Hye-kyo, eats gimbap whenever she can

Jan. 25, 2023

[Korean History] Censored April Revolution reporting and history of press freedom

Among the first actions by South Korea's founding President Syngman Rhee, after his administration mowed down protesters in what would later be known as the "Bloody Tuesday," was to call for patriotism. The front page of the April 21, 1960, edition for The Korean Republic -- forerunner of The Korea Herald -- carried the initial reaction by the Rhee administration to the April 19 Revolution, which eventually led to Rhee’s resignation. Thousands of students had poured out onto

Jan. 25, 2023

[Korea Quiz] Places in Korean proverbs

Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Some Korean proverbs are associated with specific places. In “Even the view of Geumgangsan can be enjoyed after eating,” which Koreans would be heard saying in just seven syllables -- Geum-gang-san-do shik-hoo-kyung -- the mountain is used as a symbol of an awe-inspiring spectacle or an exceptionally good experience. (The last three of the seven letters are from Chinese characters which respectively mean "eating" "after&quo

Jan. 25, 2023

New Seollal scenes: Digital folding screens, diffusers and pets clad in hanbok

The act of honoring the spirits of ancestors by offering them food and drinks during the Lunar New Year has been considered a serious tradition for centuries in South Korea. But this year, some families have decided to honor the tradition in a lighter mood, according to photos gone viral on online communities. Versatile screen This photo, uploaded by an anonymous user and shared on Instagram, shows a clever use of a wall-mounted TV screen, a staple in Korean living rooms. Instead of keeping

Jan. 24, 2023

[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