South Korea, like other countries has its own unique traditional and cultural aspects rooted deeply in a Korean society. Some things that can be uncommon in other cultures are an integral part of people’s life in South Korea. This article discusses what is considered normal and important in Korea and why that is so.
Korean society has been immensely influenced by Confucius traditions, which is the foundation of the majority of Korean traditions. Despite the diversity in believes of Korean people, almost everyone respects and follows these traditional “rules”. Besides the rules, some phenomena that can be uncommon in other countries are normal in a Korean society. This article discusses some of these phenomena.
1. Found an item – give it back.
South Korea is popular with its low rate of crime. Korea is known to be one of the safest countries in the world. Cases of theft are extremely rare, therefore, if you lost something, there is no need to panic or worry. Most probably you will find it if you check in the places, you had been in, or someone who found it will try to reach you to give it back. It is normal in Korea to leave your belongings including important and expensive items such as a laptop or some documents in a public place and leave for a while. When you come back, you will find everything as you left. For instance, once I went for a shopping and bought a plenty of new clothes and products, which is why my bags were extremely heavy. When I came to the bus stop, I found out that my bus comes in 19 minutes. I did not want to wait, thus, I left my bags in the bus stop and went to see other shops. When I came back 15 minutes later, everything was exactly where I put them.
2. Walking alone at night.
In South Korea, you can comfortable walk alone at night without being afraid of being kidnapped, beaten or even molested. You can be comfortable because you will not come across any aggressive people outside. Certainly, you could meet drunk people, especially on Friday evenings. Korean people love to drink after hard working day, and Friday evenings are full of drunk people in the city, even women. However, they are all still friendly people who will not bother you or try to harm you at all. Inadequate people, albeit seldom, can also be noticed in Korea. For instance, for one period of time, one man used to scream every morning next to my university dormitory. I still have not figured it out why he was doing that, but I did not have to set an alarm because he would wake me up every morning. Despite this, people in Korea are not aggressive at all, and you don’t have to be afraid of them.
3. Lining up.
Korean people are organized and disciplined enough. These characteristics are reflected in their patience to make a neat long line while waiting for their turn to enter the public transport, café or a restaurant, or to buy something. This is evident especially during rush hours early in the morning or after 6 pm when subways or bus stops are full of people. Despite the fact that everyone wants to be in time to enter the train/bus, there is no a messy crowd trying to squeeze in. Instead, there will be an organized line where people will enter one by one without pushing one another.
4. Do not be rude to older people.
In Korean society people are on a vertical level, not horizontal. This means that people’s rights are not fully equal, they depend on the age. This is not a law or rule established by the government, rather, it is rooted in the Korean culture itself. You have to be absolutely respectful towards people older than you. Even if they are not right in a particular situation, an average Korean person would not argue with or even try to justify himself/herself in front of older people. Certainly, avoiding rudeness and being respectful is important; nevertheless, the inequality fostered by hierarchy in Korean society leads to chronical stress and even suicides among young Korean people. A case in point of trying to be respectful towards someone older even if he/she is not right is one Korean student from my university. I witnessed a situation where university Professor blames the student and scolds him harshly just because of a small and insignificant mistake (I hardly called it a mistake) he made (not an assignment-related mistake), which does not even deserve any attention because it did not affect anything negatively. The student felt guilty, he could not look into professor’s eyes and all he did was constantly repeating same phrases – “I apologize”, “I will not do it again”.
5. Study Forever.
Korean people approach education most seriously. From little children up to the elderly, everyone in Korea studies hard. Education is extremely important for Korean people, therefore, they pay huge attention to which university a person has graduated from when hiring a new employee, and not only. Earlier in this article, I discussed about hierarchy in Korean society, when people have to be respectful, use formal level of speech and bow in front of people who hold higher career positions and are older by age. But what if two people are equal in their positions and ages? In this case, they ask which university they graduated from, because universities are also hierarchical from high-level to low-level. Such that, Korea is known for its top 3 universities also known as SKY – Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University. Other highly prestigious universities are KAIST and POSTECH. Graduates of these universities are given priority everywhere. It is substantially difficult to enter these universities, and people usually admire students of top universities. For instance, when I make new acquaintances, people always ask “Where do you study?”. When I say “Korea University” the reaction is always “Oh! Wow!”.
Even after entering a university, Korean people study really hard. Mostly they target getting Master’s degree after Bachelor’s, and Doctoral degree after Master’s. My fellow university students all do their best in studying. If someone asks me who of your classmates is the weakest in studying, I will have no answer, because literally everyone grinds away. Libraries are full until late night even on weekends and during vacations. Seeing a man/women in their sixties in the library is not uncommon.
These practices embedded in Korean society can be both positive and negative, however, together they make this culture unique and interesting to observe and experience. What I personally can say about Korea considering all these and other aspect of Korean culture is that life in Korea never gets boring!
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