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.