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Culture of South Korea

South Korea has a lot of traditions and ways of living that

help keep their culture intact with whom they are as a society.

Major roles that play a huge part in South Korean culture would

be gender roles, religion, age, education, language, greetings,

and more. The culture shapes the way they interact with each

other and foreigners.

Gender roles in South korea have always been very

patriarchal and even though it is 1constitutional that the sexes

are equal, it is still a patriarchal society. Because males are

more adored they receive better education and more respect while

their female counterparts are seen as more independent.

Religion is also an important key in their culture.

Buddhism and Christianity are the two main religions. 2Buddhism

is still practiced, but christianity is on the rise mainly and

was introduced by jesuits in China. Along with religion comes

holidays which are celebrated. For example they hold on to

korean traditions through holidays such as hangul day, Korean

New Year, and chuseok. Then as for christianity, christmas was

adopted into their culture.

Age and language play their part by keeping alive the

hierarchical culture alive. Aging in Korea adds on one to two

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http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Korean-Culture.html
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years more than in the western hemisphere. 3Also age determines

how words change to speak to someone older, younger, a stranger,

higher, or lower position than you. Language is important to the

culture because it already has a system of respect built into it

which allows for efficient flow of communication in the society.

Family is very important in asian society. This is shown in

the society by everything being done as a group such as eating

and more. 4Family also puts pressure on the best education so

that you make family happy and have a good reputation or status.

Because of the patriarchal society, patriarch lineage is very

important and the eldest son has the most responsibility of

taking care of the family. Also back then the eldest son had

inherited everything, but that has been made to an equal thing

between women and men. Lastly arranged marriages are common in a

society like this.

Some other things that contribute to their culture would be

bowing, supporting your right elbow with your left hand, or

using both hands when giving or receiving something. No one is

allowed to eat until the oldest at the table has taken a seat

and started to eat. Also spiritual ceremonies are used with

opening a business. No one likes using the word “no”. Do not

point with chopsticks or pour your own drink. Placing your thumb

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between your middle and index finger is seen as an obscene

gesture. Do not use the number four because of its similarity

and pronunciation to the word death in their language. The order

of their names are surname, generation name, and given name.

Always remove shoes in a home and bring a gift as a thank you.

5Along with Valentine’s Day they also celebrate white day which

is the male valentine’s day and black day is for singles to get

together and eat noodles which are black. Soju is the national

drink in korea. They are a very homogeneous society. Also the

money currency is “won” and they have a republic government.

6Lastly their language has one of the highest literacy rates in

the world.

Citation

“Korean Culture.” Learn Korean - Korean Culture and Traditions, www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Korean-Culture.html.

“Home.” South Korea - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette, www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-

guides/south-korea-guide.

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http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/Korean-Culture.html
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https://www.commisceo-global.com/resources/country-guides/south-korea-guide