South Korea: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive South Korea feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 417 written places.
Palli-palli - hurry hurry - meets deep etiquette; age and hierarchy quietly shape interactions.
✓ Considered polite
- Give and receive with both hands, especially with older people
- Pour drinks for others, never your own - someone will fill yours
- Take off shoes in homes and traditional restaurants
- Use the T-money card for metro, buses and taxis nationwide
✗ Better avoided
- Tip - it is not done and can fluster staff
- Write names in red ink - it signifies death
- Blow your nose at the table
- Start eating before the eldest person does at shared meals
Worth knowing
- Cards work everywhere, even street stalls mostly
- Naver Map and Kakao Map beat foreign map apps here
- Jjimjilbang bathhouses are cheap overnight culture experiences
- Late-night eating is a way of life - nothing really closes
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.