We got a pretty interesting question about how westernized Korea is. Korea’s on the other side of world from Western nations, but just like most places in the world, Western culture has influenced life in Korea. See what’s changed and what’s stayed true in Korean culture.
Korea’s traditional clothing, hanbok, is an expensive piece of silk attire. Actually, it’s several pieces with several layers, all of which takes a few good minutes longer to put on than just t-shirt and jeans. That’s probably why it’s nearly non-existent in everyday wear, becoming more and more rare for hanboks to be seen worn around. These days, the only occasion they are worn at are weddings. Couples will wear their hanbok for a short traditional Korean wedding ceremony, and the mothers of the couples will also wear hanboks on wedding days. Aside from that hanboks are sometimes worn on Seollal (Lunar New Years) and Chuseok (Harvest Festival). But many families have already gotten used to not wearing hanboks on those days too. Clothing is nearly 100% westernized in Korea.
Western food is wildly popular in Korea, especially with younger people. Hamburger, pizza and pasta restaurants can be found in nearly all corners of Korea. These foods are usually the food of choice for children eating out or for young couples going out on dates. But that’s not to say that Koreans prefer Western food to Korean food. Instead, Western food usually acts as a break from eating Korean food daily. However, it probably will never replace Korean food as a daily food. Generally, most Koreans consider Western food to be neukkihae (느끼해), which is equivalent to greasy or heavy. And eating it everyday is unfathomable to most.
Korean weddings are modeled after Western weddings, with a wedding dress, tuxedo, a walk down an aisle, wedding rings and vows. However, there is a short traditional Korean wedding ceremony called pyebaek (폐백) that usually takes place after the main wedding ceremony. As for post-marriage, gender roles in Korea still play a major role in regards to the expectations of men and women. Most people expect Korean wives to do the majority of the housework, regardless of if they work or not. Korean women are also central to their children’s education, whereas Korean men usually take a backseat to these home duties. These expectations, however, are currently going through a slow evolution to be more balanced.
A few decades ago the only doctors in Korea were traditional Korean doctors (한의사). Western medicine wasn’t readily available nor practiced. These days, however, the vast majority of doctors are Western doctors. When people think of going to a hospital or getting cared for, most of the time it’s off to the big university hospital (Western-style of course) where there are doctors, nurses, hospital rooms, surgery rooms, and all the other things Western hospitals have. Korean doctors on the other hand are sought out for preventative reasons. Traditional Korean medicine is thought to improve overall health and to revitalize a weakened body. Korean doctors are still sought out, but Western doctors are seen much more frequently by most Koreans.
Korea is definitely changing, and western influences are quite big here. But we’re curious. Where are you from and how westernized is your country? Leave us a comment!
Thanks as always to TalkToMeinKorean.com for helping out with the video! Check them out if you want to learn Korean for free 🙂