10 Amazing, Fun & Interesting Facts About South Korea

South Korea, officially known as Republic of Korea. The country is located at the Southern part of Korean Peninsula. South Korea is surrounded by China, Japan and North Korea. Let us know some interesting facts about South Korea

Interesting Facts About South Korea

#1: Sweet Potato Fact

• South Koreans love sweet potato flavoured delicacies to such an extent that there is every possible dish flavoured with sweet potato. To name a few, there are main courses, desserts, chips, latte, bread and salads.

#2: Born a Year Old

• When you are born in South Korea, you are considered a year old. This means that you age faster by a year if you are a South Korean compared to a westerner.

#3: Drinking in Public Legal

• This one of the fun cum interesting facts about South Korea: This country is one that permits drinking in public and the act is considered perfectly legal. People can carry alcoholic containers in public and can take a drink or two.

#4: Deathly Facts

• Writing a person’s name in red ink indicates that the person is about to die or is already dead and gone. One needs to be careful and avoid the use of red ink.
• South Koreans also believe that leaving an electric fan on overnight would kill the person sleeping directly below it. It is called the ‘Fan Death’ concept.
• The number ‘4’ is considered unlucky and is associated with death. This belief seems to have rubbed off from china.

#5: Shopaholic

• South Koreans love to shop. The country has some of the biggest shopping malls in the world. The stores are open until 4 in the morning while restaurants, bars, cafe are open till 11 in the night.

#6: Taegeukgki

• The flag has a whole lot of philosophy behind it.
• The flag has a white background with a yin – yang symbol in the centre and four trigrams in the four corners of the flag.
• The Yin yang is in blue and red and represents the cosmic forces acting against each other to bring a balance and harmony.
• The trigrams on each corner symbolize the universal elements heaven, earth, fire and water.

#7: Hangul

• A strong bond among the Koreans prevails as they speak and write the same language. The Hangul language consists of 14 consonants and 10 vowels. These alphabets can be combined to form various syllables. It is considered one of the standard scientific writing systems. This particular fact is one of the most popular fact among all interesting facts about South Korea.
• The South Koreans also read newspapers with around 63 of them having daily print editions.

#8: Why Not One Korea?

• Till 1945, Korea had indeed remained a single unified kingdom. Once Japan was defeated in the World War II, it was ousted out of Korea and the region was divided into two. One half was governed by the Soviet Union while the other half was governed by the United States.
• During the cold war, the two halves warred against each other and it was well known that both sides had outside support. The two halves remained separated and there was no chance of reconciliation.
• The Korean War was the first major military conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States.
• The South Korean Government is supposed to be a democratic one, but has been ruled by a series of military rules. It offers religious freedom and there is no national religion as such. Buddhism and Christianity have powerful presences in the nation.

#9: Colour Coded Taxi

• The taxis in South Korea are colour coded according to the level of service offered.
• If you hire a grey or white taxi, your tax would be a basic car with a fully qualified but not so experienced driver. Whereas if you hire a black cab, you will get a luxury car with a more experienced driver.

#10: Smiling ROOF

• All Korean roofs are curved at the ends giving an appearance of a smile.

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