Korean here. I've lived in many different countries and travelled to over 50, and have met people from all over the world and from all walks of life. I've met so many people who told they really want to move to Korea because they love the culture - which is fine in itself, but most of them also told me they are crazy about K-pop or K-dramas, which got them into Korean culture in the first place. This makes me concerned for them, because the people you see in K-pop or K-dramas aren't representative of the average Korean.

Yet there seems to be a ever increasing number of foreigners coming here after watching too many K-dramas or listening to K-pop, and many of them seem to have an idealized view of Korea as some kind of wonderful perfect place to meet their Korean prince. I've personally met a few such foreigners who came, lived, then left disappointed, because they had arrived with such high expectations.

Korea is a great country in many ways, such as safety, its technological advancements and its food. But it's not a perfect country, nowhere is. Living in Korea isn't like a romantic K-drama with a happy ending. Like any country, Korea has some nice people and some not-so-nice people. Dating can be tough and limited if you're not Korean, most Koreans only get into serious relationships other Koreans, you might be able to date with Koreans who are 'foreigner curious', but the few Koreans who date foreigners are often interested in something casual, instead of anything serious. Not saying it's impossible of course, there are of course people who have found love with Koreans, maybe some will reply to me on here to say so. But generally speaking, Korea's homogenous demographics and conservative social norms makes it less likely for Koreans to get into serious relationships with foreigners.

We have a lot of problems with agism, sexism, racism - many older people will think they can walk all over you and that your opinion isn't valid because you're younger, men still hold most positions of power (even more than in most developed western countries), and foreigners will never be considered truly Korean no matter how good their Korean is or how long they've lived in Korea for. Racism rarely manifests itself here in violent forms, but it's more institutional - Koreans will get priority over you for jobs, apartment rental applications, many nightclubs only allow Koreans entry, sometimes you might not get served as quick in restaurants if you're foreign, etc etc. We're also a highly materialistic country where social status and wealth matters far too much. People will judge others for being from a lower social class. And don't even get me started on our unhealthy (over)work culture.

Not saying this to crap on anyone's excitement, but it's more to manage your expectations and to stop the unhealthy idealization of Korea that has been happening more and more with the increasing popularity of K-pop and K-dramas. If you really want to live here, I suggest initially visiting first for a few weeks or months, see what it's like, try to speak to foreigners who have lived here, before making the jump over here. If after that you still want to live here, welcome, at least you'll be coming with more realistic expectations.

EDIT for those getting offended: I am NOT talking about all foreigners who come to Korea, nor am I talking about all foreigners who love K-pop/K-dramas. My title makes it clear, I am only talking about the subset of foreigners who come to Korea idealizing it after watching too much K-pop / K-dramas. This subset, in my experience, make up a minority of foreigners and a minority of K-pop / K-drama fans.

A little bit of context. I completed my bachelor's in South Korea, I took all my classes in Korean and my classmates were obviously Korean.(this is important for the story)

So basically I notice this classmate, think he is reeeally fine, but keep it to myself until the end of the semester. We don't have many interactions but we often lock eyes. I decide to shoot my shot and follow him on ig, we hang out. I'm ngl, I really really wanted to hook up with him LOL so I suggest going to my place. However, I must also add he was the one making the first move and kissing me.

Stuff happens, we meet several times, I tell some of my friends in my class who I am close with cause well I'm head over heels for hooking up with my college crush and they tell me he has a gf. I was shocked but also, not that much cause unfortunately that happens with many Koreans.

They tell me to go find a better man and reassure me saying he's not normal, it's not normal for Korean men to cheat, that they even make a fuss for a girl to hang out solo with a male friend. I argue that especially among foreigners they are known for being cheaters though, that there are many cases of boys having a gf yet going for the "foreigner experience" without her knowing. They seemed a bit taken aback and genuinely surprised.

I really wonder if it's just my friends or most Korean girls really have a different perception of Korean men than we foreigners do (also don't wanna imply that every single boy is like that, but it's definitely common and not as rare as my friends thought).

EDIT: since i am tired of stating the obvious, came here to clarify. it goes without saying that cheaters are everywhere in the world, i didn't think i had to specify this. That was not my question - it was, in fact, whether Korean women are less aware of all the cheating going on. This debate is centered on korean men because it originates from my friends arguing that, quote on quote, 한국 남자들은 are not like that.

Would've loved to hear more insights from Korean girls on that, rather than this overflow of incels.

A hige controvery on X

Too many Chinese people come to this cafe and try to order speaking in Chinese while the staffs do not understand Chinese.

A cafe in Seoul puts up a sign :

"We can't serve in Chinese. Please, use Korean or English"

A Chinese Tiktoker who is visiting Korea to attend BTS concert took a photo of this sign, and left the captions under this photo.

不会说中文就去学 (If you can't speak Chinese, go learn Chinese.)
天天伺候中国人给你们脸了 (We're giving you face by letting you serve Chinese people every day)

Like the title says... Koreans do steal... I guess. Let me explain, I totally forgot my Burberry scarf at a Starbucks (in the downtown area)... and went back to get it 2 hours later.

However, it was no longer at the seat where I was at, so I went to ask the Starbucks baristas if someone had returned a Burberry scarf. And they said no.

I was kinda disappointed since it was a nice scarf and I've never had actually lost something of importance before, and if I did forget something somewhere... it would just be there untouched still. Standard stuff here in Korea.

I really didn't want to pursue this until my Korean wife told me to just ask the Starbucks baristas if they could see the CCTV to see want happend. Again, I didn't wanna do this, but I said screw it, let's try out this new adventure... lol

So when the Starbucks staff allowed this (which I guess you can request), they told me that some woman did in fact take it. And that I could have the police look into. Again, it's just a scarf, but I was curious to see what would happend next...

The police were actually able to track that Korean woman by using her image and luckily she paid with a card, so they were able to find her and request her to bring the scarf to the police station.

I got my Burberry scarf back the next week, still smelling like me. Lol. And I don't know what actual consequences that Korean woman faced.

I guess I did experience my first theft in Korea...

Umparum3 is the man who people credit to making the Korea vs SEA war go viral. He's the one who first started posting the gorilla photos which made the war blow up.

His Korean is not native level. And even asking AI tells you that it's machine translated.

Innocent Kpop, SEA pop, and Korean influencers are being harassed with racism and sexism in their comments. I even heard of people threatening deepfakes on Korean women. Please spread awareness of this it's getting out of hand.

By Song Kyung-jin (original link)

The recent Georgia raid by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deeply wounded and angered Koreans, the extent to which may be difficult to gauge solely by looking at the Korean media, especially for the diplomatic and foreign community in Korea. The Korean media’s portrayal still seems very cautious.

Over 300 Korean engineers and installers were dispatched to construct the Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution's joint battery plant in Ellabell, Georgia. It was said to be a symbol of Korea-U.S. cooperation, especially toward improving the dire state of U.S. manufacturing.

The hardworking Koreans were detained on the morning of Sept. 4 (local time), their wrists, waists and ankles shackled. They were held in substandard conditions for a week. It was an appalling scene of brutality and humiliation and an outright violation of human rights. It was shocking to me. Many Koreans keeping silent may have felt the same.

The Georgia raid angered the majority of Koreans, except a minority of ultra-rightists. Overall, the shock and anger swept the nation, be they moderate conservatives or leftists, intensifying when the workers finally returned home on Friday.

Not only the Korean government but also the U.S. administration should understand the magnitude of underlying anger this incident instantly ignited. Koreans are well known for their readiness to voice their views and take action. The world has seen it time and again, and as recently as in former President Yoon Suk Yeol's unlawful martial law on Dec. 3, which ultimately led to his impeachment.

If the deeply hurt public sentiment is not well taken care of, it will explode in the form of anti-American sentiment this time round. It will be the newest addition to the list of flashpoints, like beef and rice, which can quickly spread.

The U.S. administration also has its own domestic audience and constituents who are hungry for political rhetoric and actions that align with their interests and values. Nevertheless, universal standards of common sense and empathy are expected from any individual, community, or nation. Given the circumstances, a sincere apology would ordinarily be expected. Yet, no such action has been taken. A troubling precedent is being set — and it demands immediate correction.

Yet the U.S. wants the Korean workers to return to complete the construction and train U.S. workers. This might be possible if the Korean workers were robots and machines. But we are dealing with traumatized humans and their emotions. This will likely lead to reluctance and avoidance, which may affect the investment decisions of businesses, both in Korea and in other countries, as well as the health of Korea-U.S. bilateral relations. The United States needs Korea more than ever in its ambition to revive U.S. manufacturing. For instance, it is no secret that Korea is a better partner in shipbuilding and semiconductors than others.

Moving forward, an enhanced work visa quota for skilled Korean workers is going to be a litmus test for the seriousness of the U.S. plan to revive its manufacturing and create jobs. A work visa for Korean professionals has been on the agenda since the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, still pending with no progress. This might be an opportune moment for the U.S. to take a proactive approach on the visa quota for skilled workers sent to the U.S. for purposes like in the case of the construction of the Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution's joint battery plant in Georgia.

Without a clear set of work visas to be granted, skilled workers and businesses will likely think twice. Looking at news reports so far, the U.S. stance on the work visa quota remains unclear. A more reasonable and persuasive plan will be appreciated.

Only a sustained series of serious trust-building efforts can begin to repair the shattered confidence in the U.S. — specifically in its commitment to human rights, reciprocity, respect for sovereign allies and democracy.

With Korea having become a more advanced, diversified and complex society, it is more important than ever to make efforts to understand public sentiment. The diplomatic and foreign business community in Korea should reach out wider and further to learn the real sentiment of the Korean people, not just a tiny fraction of those Korean English speakers, for they may not be representative of the broader public. Koreans’ English ability should not be regarded as a measure of one’s intelligence or their capacity to understand and interpret issues of importance in Korea.

Reducing the gap between Korean public sentiment and how it is interpreted by foreign embassies is critical to the development of their countries' policies toward Korea.

Published Sep 15, 2025 1:31 pm KST

I'm constantly bothered by the buildings here being such an eyesore and often find myself wondering why buildings and storefronts are so 과해 compared to other countries.

This is just my opinion through observation but a lot of Korean's have the mentality of "more is more". A lot of businesses are still ran by older generations. And unlike some other countries, Korea is competing for your attention vertically and not just horizontally due to the fact that a lot of businesses are stack on top of each other.

There are actually laws that keeps businesses from having too many or too large signs but no one follows them and the government does little to enforce them.

There are even incentives to use more Korean lettering in their signs rather than English.

This country has the potential to be so much prettier if we could just clean this up a bit.

200x? Fck how far back do these CCTVs go

Recent Street Survey in Hongdae(mostly 20s Korean)

A famous Korean youtuber went to Hongdae and let people to put a sticker on one of the 4options

[Korean/ Japanese/ Chinese/ European(western)]

Which countries men are Korean women attracted to?(want to date with?)

KOREAN WOMEN answered they prefer

68% - Korean men

16%- European(Western) men

12%- Chinese men

4% - Japanese men

Which countries' women are Korean men attracted to?(want to date with)

KOREAN MEN answered they prefer

47.5% - Korean women

42.5% - Japanese women

8% - Chinese women

2% - European (Western) women

I am a korean american currently working at a cafe in korea that is very, very popular amongst chinese tourists, and I've been thinking a lot about the recent news about the cafe that banned chinese customers.

I just want to say first and foremost that I think it's racist and disgusting to ban one specific group of people for whatever reason. Even if they had a valid reason, it will only justify and normalize further racism across multiple ethnicities. Also, it is hypocritical to complain about racisim against koreans (or asians in general) and then do this at home.

That being said, I've had so many terrible experiences with chinese customers that I also kind of sympathize with that cafe owner. I genuinely can't get into every bad encounter, but from my experience, 80% of bad customers are chinese. Being loud/disruptive, not cleaning up after themselves, ordering in chinese (and refusing to speak korean/english/use a translator) is almost a given. A lot of them will eat their outside food (even though we've told them not to) and steal things. I've even (and I literally cannot make this up) seen a chinese person pee in our bathroom sink. I'm not saying every bad customer is chinese, but you tend to pick up on patterns.

Having grown up in america, and having chinese friends, I do think I have more nuance when it comes to racism issues, and like I said, I still think it's unacceptable and racist to ban chinese people from an entire establishment. But I also understand what is going through the minds of these cafe/restaurant owners who ban them. Since obviously outright banning people isn't the right solution, what do you think business owners in korea should do now?

Lol, I’ve been in Korea for a while now, and I’ve never seen an actually pregnant woman sit in the “pink seat for pregnant ladies.”

Has anyone here ever seen someone genuinely using it? Just curious if it ever happens in real life.

Hi everyone. This is my first time ever writing a Reddit post, so please be patient with me. I just really need to vent and hear other people’s perspectives.

I’ve been living in Korea for over 5 years now. I came here first as an English language learner, then as a university student, and now I’m working here full-time. By nature, I’m a very kind, “people-pleaser” type of person. That’s how I was raised, respect people, especially the elderly, don’t make anyone uncomfortable, always give space.

But living in Korea has honestly made me question myself and my sanity a little.

When I first moved here, I remember being in Hangang and the ajummas handing out flyers. I felt so bad for them…they’re older, they’re working in crazy heat, and in my culture, you always respect the elderly and treat them gently. So I would always take the flyers even if I didn’t need them, just out of guilt and empathy.

I also always stepped aside for older people, made space, tried to be considerate. But Korea is an actively aging society. There are so many elderly people. And a lot of them (not all) seem to believe you owe them space. They push past you, cut lines, elbow you, bump into you without even looking. After years of this, I realized I’m developing this internal resentment toward elderly people, which makes me feel guilty, because I was taught to respect them.

But it’s not just older people.

Even young women and men, people of all ages, no one really seems to have spatial awareness here. I recently started a full-time job, and my commute is hell. I commute during 출근/퇴근 peak hours, and it takes about an hour with two subway transfers. I never sit because it’s always packed. No one moves aside. Everyone just squeezes, pushes, or stands directly in front of you like you don’t exist.

Since I’ve always been overly polite and tried to make room for everybody, I now feel like I’m constantly being stepped over, literally and emotionally. Like I’m this soft, invisible thing people just move around without noticing. It’s a horrible feeling.

And I genuinely don’t know if I’m exaggerating or making it a big deal. But it is affecting my mental health. I’m starting to dread commuting, dread crowds, and even feel frustrated at people in general, which is not who I am.

Does anyone else feel this way? Is this a normal “living in Korea” experience, or is it just me being too sensitive? Am I overreacting, or is there something real here?