Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. In Korea, some street snacks are strongly associated with a particular season. The most iconic seasonal delicacy sold at street stalls around this time of year is bungeoppang, which literally translates to carp bread. These fish-shaped waffles, stuffed with sweet red bean paste, ranked atop an online survey of favorite winter snacks, condu

    People can't help but bump into others in overcrowded Korean cities. Koreans think that this is unavoidable, and no one seems to mind, unless the contact hurts.  On the other hand, some foreigners may find this form of physical contact with strangers to be irritating since they are accustomed to maintaining their own personal space in public places.   Min Byoung-chul is an endowed chair professor at Chung-Ang University who is widely known as a multicultural educator and

Similar to the ball drop in New York, Koreans ring in the new year with 33 bell tolls in central Seoul

Even 'petty' crimes can lead to forced departure, while drug, sex offenses are dealt with sternly

Abandoned theater turned into a retro-themed cafe draws young hipsters to traditional marketplace

Test your knowledge of Korea with our weekly quiz on the language, culture, history or anything K-related. -- Ed. Find the answer at the bottom of the page. Many Koreans avoid writing their name in red as it traditionally signifies death, and in the political arena the color red has long been linked with communism after the Korean War. But the 2002 World Cup transformed the meaning of “red” into unity and strength when hundreds of thousands of unwavering "Red Devils” fan

    In Korea, the norm is for women to continue using their own surname after getting married. For the wife to take their husband's surname is a foreign concept. If you call a Korean woman by her husband's family name, she may be unaware that you are calling her.  Children will take their father's family name. Korean women keep their family name after marriage because one's name is something that is inherited from their parents ＆ ancestors and should not be changed. Min Byoung-

The surprising effects and side effects of some folk medicines according to an internal medicine expert

For people with ‘unusually long’ names, life in Korea fraught with frustrations

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. In America, the word "bad" is sometimes used colloquially to actually mean that something is very good. In Korea, a comparable word would be “si-won-ha-da,” which literally means cool, but is also used to mean something completely different. A Korean might say “si-won-ha-da” when he or she is sitting on a h

Visitors to Korea may not be expected to follow etiquette that is particular to Korean society, but taking the time to learn and apply Korean etiquette will show that you respect the people you are meeting and their culture. In Korea, it is rude to use just one hand to give or receive something. To show politeness, people use one hand (usually the right) while holding the wrist or forearm with the other hand to receive or pass something. It's something you'll see a lot in Korea so it will be ea

Autonomous bus debuts in city center as Seoul charges ahead into future of public transportation

  The following is part of Seoul Subway Stories, a Korea Herald series exploring the subway stations and surrounding areas across the city. -- Ed.   In the ’70s and ’80s, before the proliferation of cafes and clubs in Seoul, the area near Sindang Station led a peculiar youth culture here -- hipsters hanging out at trendy tteokbokki restaurants where DJs play pop music. Nearly half a century later, the Sindang-dong neighborhood’s then-revolutionary tteokbokki scene may

S. Korea’s 'inaction' on overseas child abduction cases involving non-custodial Korean parents stirs controversy

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. “Gapjil” refers to an entity in a position of power abusing that power to bully, take advantage of, or basically make life miserable in an unjustifiable way for a person of inferior position. This could range from a high-ranking official unfairly taking away a subordinate’s privileges or a head of a company telling employees