15 Mistakes Tourists Make When They Travel To Korea

You’ve taken the jump and are going to travel to Korea! Good for you. There are some cultural mistakes to avoid in Korea you should know though… well 15 things to know in this list. Before you take a trip to Korea, just remember that the crosswalk signal shouldn’t be pushed and you don’t need to tip. Check out the most common mistakes people make when visiting South Korea. 

Here are 15 things not to do in Korea:

1. Pressing the button the walk signal pole
2. Trying to tip
3. Not getting a tour guide
4. Using one hand
5. Forgetting to take shoes off
6. Pointing with the index finger
7. Waiting for the server
8. Calling someone over with palms down
9. Talking loudly on the subway or bus
10. Not knowing where to find the toilet paper
11. Refusing a pour
12. Assuming everyone will speak English
13. Not going to a Korean bathhouse
14. Blowing the nose at the table
15. Showing off the shoulders

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1 Pressing the button on the walk signal pole.

You want to cross the street, you press the button, the light changes, you cross. You might think this seems obvious. But actually, the button isn’t for you at all. Lights in Korea will change automatically. The buttons on the posts are there for the blind and upon pressing, a sound will come forth. There’s sort of a series of echolocation beeps that happens as you cross too so a blind person could understand how far away they are from one side and how close to the other. Anyway, if you press it, people will just wonder why.

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2 Trying to tip

I’ve actually been here so long that when I’ve gone home to the US, I’ve accidentally not tipped people and then gone back the next day extremely apologetic for forgetting we don’t pay people a livable wage in the US. Anyway, in Korea, there’s no tipping.

You don’t need to tip and if you do, you could get into an awkward situation where the person you’re paying is confused with the extra money. I’ve only seen an older student of mine get away with tipping a valet at a very nice restaurant, but other than that, never seen it. If you want more information to be sure you understand and when you might tip, check out this guide to tipping in Korea.

If you’re looking to save some money when you travel to Korea, on top of tipping, here is a list of awesome free things to do in Seoul and some more money saving tips for your trip in Korea.

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3 Not getting a tour guide

Here’s the thing, I’m a go getter and I write posts on The Soul of Seoul specifically with the hope that you can have all of the information so you can go out and do things on your own. That said, if you’re a short-term tourist, or new to the country, I highly recommend getting a guide to provide you with all of the information you won’t find in books, or just the information you won’t have time to read in books.

There are some great places to go and see and you might not ever find them on your own because there are two addresses for everything and streets can be confusing. Get a guide for at least a couple of tours so you can learn more about eating and food culture in Korea and history at the least.

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4 Using one hand

Remember to use two hands when passing things back and forth even simply handing money to a cashier at the convenience store. There are different ways to achieve this though. You don’t necessarily have to cup your hands together every time you hand something to someone. Often people pass with one hand, while the other perches on their arm nonchalantly. If you were watching and not paying attention, it could very well look like it was just a one handed pass. But it isn’t.

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5 Forgetting to take shoes off

Another one I’m so used to doing anytime I enter a place and notice a shoe shelf or a risen floor of any kind. I didn’t realize tourists would not do this until a recent group I was in waltzed right into a building bypassing the shoe shelf completely and didn’t think anything of it and all of the shoes decorating it. I can only imagine they thought they were decorations or else why would they walk right by?

Be aware of your surroundings. If there’s a shoe shelf, take off your shoes every time. Additionally, since you’ll probably be taking shoes off a lot, wear shoes you can slip on and off easily and don’t wear socks with holes because everyone will see them.

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6 Pointing with the index finger

I’ve been here 16 years and still forget this sometimes. However, you might chuckle when you notice Koreans point with their middle finger instead. It doesn’t mean what you think it means. Alternatively, you can point with your entire hand palm up. This is something that I’ve learned more through consistently seeing Koreans do it and taking after them. If you’re a short term tourist and you point at something with your index finger, though, no one is really going to call you out on it in my experience. 

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7 Waiting for the server

One thing a lot of tourists do is just wait for the server or waiter to come over to them. Awkwardly making eye contact, hoping they’ll come over… but they won’t. In Korea, it’s perfectly acceptable, and you should call the waiter over. You can either call out “yogiyo” loud enough for the waitstaff to hear you or, these days, it’s very common to find a small call button somewhere on or near the table. Press this and you can ring the waiter right over. They don’t just come and casually ask you how the food is while you’re mid-bite here and won’t come at all unless you’ve beckoned them so don’t just sit there and wait.

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8 Calling someone over with palms down

Since we’ve touched on calling someone over. While it’s acceptable to gesture/point towards something with your palm up, you should NOT motion for someone to come over with your palm up. Picture when you were younger and your mom might beckon you over with her palm up and moving her finger towards her… don’t do that. In Korea, that is how you beckon dogs. Instead, you should put your palm facing down and wave towards yourself to beckon someone over.

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9 Talking loudly on the subway or bus

Sure groups of Korean kids or older Koreans might be having a loud conversational blast on the public transportation, but YOU shouldn’t. Not only is the noise level grating to people, but also the foreign language. I’ve often seen people on public transportation ask my group of tourists to quiet down or talk about them in Korean.

Generally, it seems that the acceptable level of noise is lower when it’s a tourist speaking another language. If you’re speaking Korean, you might be able to get away with a bit louder conversation. That’s just my experience. It seems there’s something about the noise level and the foreign language together that people find grating to the ears. When in doubt, just don’t talk.

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10 Not knowing where to find the toilet paper

There are public bathrooms everywhere and they’re pretty easy to find in Seoul, but you might be surprised by how many don’t have toilet paper in them. Sometimes there is toilet paper, but it’s not where you expect it to be. For example, sometimes, there’s a dispenser in the aisle with the stalls where everyone takes the amount of TP they need.

For bars and restaurants in popular places like Hongdae where multiple restaurants/bars will share one bathroom in a building, they’ll have a roll of toilet paper near the door where you should grab enough, in front of everyone, and then head to the bathroom.

Oh and since we’re talking about toilet paper. Be on the lookout for the toilets that can’t take your toilet paper. Not all of the older buildings can take a bunch of toilet paper in their pipes and they’ll have signs telling you so much. They’ll also have a bin next to them where you put your TP. It’s not great, but it is what it is.

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11 Refusing a pour

While you don’t have to drink to fit in, you do need to take the pour. Korean table manners really require you to accept when someone is pouring around the table. And someone will be pouring because you never pour for yourself. When it comes to you, accept the pour because having an empty glass or refusing will bring a lot more focus on you and your disinclination to be friendly is how it will be seen.

You’ve got a full glass, so now what? Well, this is a good time to practice pretending to sip when everyone is downing their shots. Koreans always make sure everyone’s glass is full so it’s easier to just keep your glass full than refusing a pour again… and again… and again.

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12 Assuming everyone will speak English

There are a lot of people that do speak English, but there are a lot more that don’t or are too shy to drag it out after years of not speaking any. It’s important to remember that you’re coming to Korea, Koreans aren’t coming to your country. I was shocked to have a group of tourists recently who just kept assuming people could understand them well enough and then became annoyed when they didn’t.

Most tourist sites will have English signage and information in English as well as staff that will be able to understand English, but certainly don’t go around assuming everyone does.

Additionally, if you have something you really need to relay like an allergy to food, get a card made up that says that in Korean. Learn some basic phrases like “hello”, “thank you”, and “please” and then you’ll be a lot more likely to hear English in response.

Koreans open up a lot when they see you trying. Other than that though, just go with the flow and be open to the experience. If you want some tips on learning Koreans, here is a list of books I recommend to learn Korean as well as the best online Korean courses.

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13 Not going to a Korean bathhouse

Korean bathhouses are definitely something that grow on you if you’re a resident, but if you’re a tourist, you’ve just gotta jump in and be ready for it when you arrive. Honestly, once you have a full body exfoliation, you will never go back! Koreans really know how to bathe and it’s no wonder their skin looks so good. If you want in on the secret, don’t miss out on the Korean bathhouse experience.

If you’ll be in Busan, I highly recommend Spa Land Centum City. If you’re a bit nervous about the experience, check out this guide to the Korean bath house. My in-laws own one, much smaller than Spa Land, so I’ve spent numerous hours bathing and getting full body exfoliations. Don’t miss out on this must have experience. Your skin will thank you.

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14 Blowing the nose at the table

I imagine this is sort of universal, but when you’re eating a very spicy meal and your nose is runny and tissue is sitting right on the table, you would be forgiven for going for it. My husband and I have had this discussion numerous times in fact. When I eat something spicy, my nose runs. When he eats something spicy, and it seems for a lot of Koreans, he perspires. Like drops dripping down his face sometimes. So I’ve asked him, what’s better, to quickly wipe my nose while he wipes his sweat, or for me to get up again and again and again. There’s a big difference between wiping your nose discreetly and blowing your nose. Just remember that.

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15 Showing off the shoulders

Koreans are a bit more conservative on the top than their western counterparts generally, but I will say that this really depends where you are in a lot of of my experience. In areas like Hongdae, where there are a lot younger students experimenting with style, you’d probably be okay, but in general outside of young districts, when visiting temples, etc, keeping the top a bit more covered is a good rule of thumb. I should say though, that it’s not so conservative that you’d be turned away if your shoulders were out.

I know in some countries there are hard and fast rules about clothing. In Korea, it’s not so hard and fast so if you wanted to, you definitely could walk around with bikini tops and shoulders bare, you’ll just get a lot of stares and more attention than you probably want. On the flipside, wearing super short shorts is acceptable.

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Planning a trip to Korea? Good luck out there!

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