South Korea, the country of kimchi and K-pop. But what else do you know? In this blog I’ll give you the basics of South Korea for first time travelers. Think: basic geographics, history, culture & customs and what to expect when walking the streets.
South Korea, not to be confused with North Korea
Surprisingly one of the more popular questions I get when I tell people I will be going to Korea is “isn’t that dangerous? Isn’t that the country with the super strict regime and dictator?”.
I want to blame it on the lack of attention to Asian countries, cultures and history in our history and geography classes. And if any, it’s quite superficial. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise. But really: if someone says “Hey, I’m going on vacation to Korea”, next time, please think of South Korea first before North Korea, it’s just more probable they are talking about that.
So what ís South Korea if it’s not the country with the strict regime: It’s the country of Samsung, K-pop, kimchi, hanbok dresses, tteokbokki rice cakes, Korean BBQ, soju, Korean fried chicken and a lot more.
South Korea’s capital Seoul & more
Seoul is the capital of South Korea. With roughly 30 km from north to south and 35 km from east to west it covers about 0.61% of all of South Korea, but is host to a bit less than 20% of the population of the country with over 9.5 million residents. The Seoul Capital area that consists of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province hosts about half the South Korean population. What the difference is between the two you can find on the image below.
In red ‘Seoul’ compared to all colored areas that cover the full Seoul capital area, including Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province.
Seoul consists of 25 districts (구, gu) and 426 sub-units (동, dong). The 25 districts are controlled fully autonomically, whereas the sub-units are merely administrative regions.
TIP: the Dutch @igobart_ on Instagram has made it his mission to visit and document all 426 동 (dong) of Seoul, which he covers on his Instagram page in his “welcome to my dong”-series.
South Korean history 101
Usually when talking about the history of a country you expect to start several hundreds of years ago, but this is not the case for South Korea. You could say South-Korean history started as late as 1945. After the Japanese surrender in the Pacific war, which is very simplified the Asian fought part of World War II, Korea was for the first time divided into a North and South part.
This was meant to be temporary, similar to and for the same goals as the separation of Berlin in Germany. The Soviet Union was in charge of the North and the United States of the South. 2 different governments were created, with 2 very different ideologies. After the Korean War from 1950-1953, which started when North Korea invaded the South in hopes of conquering this part of the peninsula, the separation line between the North and South remained fairly the same.
To this day the southern Republic of Korea (ROK) and northern Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), as they are officially named, remain divided by the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) and Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
South Korea’s confucianism
If you have watched any K-dramas you might also think of the Joseon era when you think about the history of Korea. This refers to the almost 500 year during Joseon dynasty (1392–1897) that is perceived as the (political) foundation for Korea’s current-day society. Korea earned its neo-confucian ideology during this period, its capital “Hanyang” was located at modern day Seoul, the famous Gyeongbokgung Palace was built during this time and the Korean script Hangul was founded by its fourth king Sejong the Great.
During this period society was divided into 5 layers: (1) The king and his family, (2) Yangban, (3) Jungin, (4) Sangmin, (5) Cheonmin. The Yangban consisted of government officials who lived off of common workers, farmers and slaves. Jungin were technical specialists like scribes, medical officers and musicians. Sangmin were the ‘common folk’ and were by far the largest class. They paid taxes, served in the military and did labor. The lowest class of Cheonmin existed of tenant farmers, slaves, entertainers, prostitutes, etc.
Today the class system does not work like in the Joseon dynasty anymore, but hierarchy is still very important in South Korea. This shows for example, in respect to elders and to your superiors at work or school. This is mostly notified by honorific terms specific to either the workplace or in friendships.
Let’s take the situation of friends for example. When you’re not close with someone or for example meet someone for the first time, you address them with 씨 (ssi) behind their name. This is somewhat similar in weight to saying Mr. or Mrs. in English. If you are a closer friend to someone there are specific honorifics depending on gender and age.
- A woman will call a close female friend 언니 (unni);
- A man will call a close female friend 누나 (nuna).
- A woman will call a close male friend (or boyfriend) 오빠 (oppa);
- A man will call a close male friend 형 (hyung).
South Korea’s language: Hangul
Partially due to its various occupations by foreign cultures and the temporary prohibited use of Hangul, Koreans are quite proud of their script. That’s why Hangul day is still a national holiday in North as well as South Korea. The script is a phonetic one and consists of 10 vowels and 14 consonants. The letters are grouped in a square-like structure forming syllables. Before the creation of Hangul, Koreans used a selection of Chinese characters referred to as Hanja as script.
Korean knows a lot of loanwords, especially from the English language. There is even a special name for this concept: Konglish. You would be surprised how much you will understand simply by learning Hangul before you visit Korea. Be it being able to read the names of popular tourist attractions like Gyeongbokgung Palace or Namsan tower, or items on the menu like Cola and ice cream, that are among popular Konglish words.
South Korea’s language: Hangul
Partially due to its various occupations by foreign cultures and the temporary prohibited use of Hangul, Koreans are quite proud of their script. That’s why Hangul day is still a national holiday in North as well as South Korea. The script is a phonetic one and consists of 10 vowels and 14 consonants. The letters are grouped in a square-like structure forming syllables. Before the creation of Hangul, Koreans used a selection of Chinese characters referred to as Hanja as script.
Korean knows a lot of loanwords, especially from the English language. There is even a special name for this concept: Konglish. You would be surprised how much you will understand simply by learning Hangul before you visit Korea. Be it being able to read the names of popular tourist attractions like Gyeongbokgung Palace or Namsan tower, or items on the menu like Cola and ice cream, that are among popular Konglish words.
South Korea’s top tourist attractions
South Korean tourist attractions cover a variety of categories: from national parks and other nature to theme parks or cultural villages. A lot of these attractions are centered in or around the capital of Seoul, but certainly not everything! Among the top tourist attractions to visit in Seoul are:
1. Gyeongbokgung Palace, Seoul – entrance is free if you wear a hanbok. You can easily rent one in one of the many nearby shops!
2. National Museum of Korea, Seoul – As another free attraction you cannot miss this museum! It has a varying collection of art and is very near Gyeongbokgung Palace.
3. Bukchon Hanok village, Seoul – This village in Seoul has a lot of restored traditional Korean houses and thus provides the perfect opportunity to delve into traditional Korean culture.
4. Namsan Tower (or N Seoul Tower), Seoul – a landmark of Seoul that is a 236 meter high tower with a variety of restaurants in it and a deck on top from which you can look over Seoul. Tip: for a fee of 15,000 won you can get to the tower by cable car
5. Seoul Forest Park, Seoul – You can take a beautiful (and free) walk in nature in Seoul. Especially in spring with its Cherry blossoms or in autumn it is a sight you cannot miss!
For some highlights outside of Seoul, take a look at:
1. Korean Folk village, Yongin – this village is an imitation of a 19th century Joseon Korean village, which you might know from K-dramas.
2. Nami Island, Chuncheon – Near Seoul you can also visit Nami Island. You will have to make a day trip out of it as it’s a few hours away from the city center of Seoul. So while you’re there, also visit the Garden of Morning Calm and take a bike on the Railbike. And for visiting the island itself: you can take a ferry for a small fee or take a zipline to the island for a bit more!
3. Gamcheon Culture village, Busan – This village in Busan is known for being very colorful and photogenic. Its area has a lot of shops and cafes which you will be able to enjoy when exploring the village and its variety of art.
Now you definitely have the basics covered for your first visit to South Korea. Stay tuned for more detailed information about everything related to South Korea and Hallyu. Let me know in the comments what you would like to see covered in a full blog in more depth.
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