A long line of shuttle buses in front of an elementary school gate waiting for students is a typical after-school scene. These vehicles will take them to private institutes teaching various subjects from math to English, and taekwondo.The buses represent Korean parents’ educational zeal as well as their lack of time to take care of their children at home. From one institute (called hagwon in Korean) to another, little children travel on the buses, taking a brief respite from a heavy daily dose o

The concept of time may be a difficult one to grasp, but for everyday purposes there is a standardized system that keeps the world ticking. In Korea, however, some things run on a different scale, Korean time. “Korean time” describes the widespread tardiness or, more specifically, the relaxed attitude with which Koreans approach appointment times. Being a few minutes late to an appointment without giving prior notice is almost the norm among friends, and even being late by an hour or more is not

Thirty-year-old web designer Kim Jung-wan recently gave 300,000 won ($290) to her close friend for her wedding.“I would normally give about 50,000 won at most weddings, but she is a dear childhood friend of mine, which is why I decided to shell out some more,” said Kim.Giving gifts for special occasions is a universal practice. In Korea, giving money is not considered any more unusual than buying someone household items or a nice bottle of wine. It is perceived that the fatter the envelope is, t

A number of foreigners in Korea, including celebrities such as Australian comedian Sam Hammington, U.S. baseball player Mike Loree and French model and actor Fabien Yoon, have confessed that the most peculiar aspect of Korea was its senior-junior culture.In word-to-word translation, the terms “senior” and “junior” could be put as “seonbae” and “hubae” but the Korean version actually has a unique connotation which creates a strict hierarchy.Under the seonbae-hubae system, people’s “ranks” are dec