Korean etiquette: 15 tips for respectful travel

Greetings and respect

1. Bow slightly when you greet someone or say thank you.
2. Use two hands to give or receive money, cards, gifts or a drink — or support your right arm with your left hand.
3. Respect age. Elders are greeted first and treated with particular courtesy.

Homes, temples and restaurants

4. Take off your shoes in homes, temple halls, many guesthouses and restaurants with floor seating.
5. Dress modestly in temples and keep quiet during ceremonies.
6. Respect residents in places such as Bukchon Hanok Village, where people live.

At the table

7. Never stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice — it recalls memorial rites.
8. Let the eldest start eating first.
9. Pour drinks for others, not for yourself, and turn your head slightly away when drinking in front of elders.
10. Do not tip. It is not part of Korean culture, and service is included.

In public spaces

11. Keep your voice down on public transport.
12. Leave priority seats free: yellow seats are for elderly and disabled passengers, pink seats for pregnant women — even if they are not visibly pregnant.
13. Wear your backpack on the front in crowded trains, and do not board Seoul buses with takeaway drinks.
14. Sort your rubbish. Public bins are rare, and recycling rules are taken seriously.

One last detail

15. Avoid writing names in red ink, which is traditionally associated with the deceased.

A few Korean words help too: annyeonghaseyo (hello) and gamsahamnida (thank you) will always be met with a smile.