1. Sit Randomly When Using Public Transportation

If you sit at certain spots at public transportations, you might get some harsh looks or even worst, yelled at. In Korea, whether it is on the bus or subway there are seats marked for the elderly, disable, and pregnant women. Just plopping on one of these seats can be seen as offensive and rude. 

2. Speaking Loudly In Public 

This sounds like something you already know, but we just want to remind you again. This applies especially if you are using public transport as it is considered rude when you speak too loudly. 

3. Don’t Mix Different Types Of Trash 

Korea uses a system called jongnyangje for the effective collection of garbage waste and to reuse natural resources. All garbage that your household produces must be disposed properly or you may be fined. Garbage must be separated according to whether it is common garbage, food waste, recyclable and large waste objects. 

4. Wearing Revealing Clothes 

Everyone has the freedom to wear whatever they want but there are still some clothing styles that are not really favoured in South Korea. Barebacks are considered slightly indecent. A plunging neckline is a big NO. However, it is totally fine to show as much legs as you want. You might have noticed that a lot of Korean women love wearing skirts or shorts. Some of them pair the skirts with socks, leggings or simply wear them with boy shorts underneath. 

5. Leave Your Chopsticks Stuck In Rice 

Terms To Know: 

Jeonse - 전세: You pay a large amount of deposit and don’t pay a monthly rent. You would just cover monthly utilities and maintenance fees. 

Wolse - 월세: You pay a smaller amount of deposit and pay a monthly rent along with utilities. The more deposit you pay upfront, the smaller your monthly rent becomes. 

Gwanlibee - 관리비: The maintenance fee you pay each month to the building’s maintenance office. It could be as low as 20,000 won and high as 250,000 won or even more!  

Joonggabee - 중개비: The broker fee you pay to the broker for finding the unit and drawing up a contract between you and your landlord. 

Office-Tels: 

As the name indicates and simply put, this type of housing is a double-functioning building that works both as office space and living space.

Gangnam:  

Deposit: 10,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 950,000 won 

Maintenance: 130,000 won 

Mapo: 

Deposit: 15,000,000 won

Monthly rent: 850,000 won 

Maintenance: 80,000 won

Jongno: 

Deposit: 10,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 850,000 won 

Maintenance: 100,000 won 

Jung-Gu: 

Deposit: 15,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 600,000 won 

Maintenance: 90,000 won 

Sonpa: 

Deposit: 10,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 850,000 won 

Maintenance: 90,000 won 

Yongsan: 

Deposit: 10,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 600,000 won 

Maintenance: 80,000 won 

Yeongdeungpo: 

Deposit: 10,000,000 won 

Monthly rent: 800,000 won