4 Facts To Better Understand South KoreaBy Abigail Sh
South Korea is considered an extremely interesting nation to the rest of the world. This little country in Asia is known for producing some of the coolest music and entertainment. Their culture and traditions are fascinating, from the way they take care of their skin and the food they eat. However, we have found a few interesting aspects about South Korea and their culture that you probably are not familiar with. Below are 4 things about South Korea that are very much unknown to many folks around the globe.
You may have heard many K-pop songs on the radio or on the television, but didn’t exactly know what genre it is or where the music originated. Look no further. We got you. K-pop was born in South Korea and is one of the most popular genres of music there. K-pop is short for “Korean Pop.” Blackpink is probably the most popular K-pop band to be born out of South Korea. They reach many listeners all over the world.
A popular past time in South Korea that many are not familiar with is kite flying. When the lunar new year rolls around, it’s a tradition for kite-fliers to cut the strings of their kites and watch them fly away into the distance. The belief is that all of your bad luck flies away along with the kite. Many traditional kites resemble a dragon, like in the photo above.
Number 4 means bad luck
Many people are aware that the number 13 is bad luck for those that live in Canada, USA, and some places in Europe. But did you know that the number 4 is considered bad luck for those in South Korea? We didn’t either. Just look at the photo above. If you notice, there is and “F” where the number “4” should be. Koreans are that superstitious that they have to replace the button in the elevator. We don’t even do this for the number 13. Interesting.
The Korean Alphabet, Hangul, is different than any other alphabet in the world. Consisting of 19 consonants and 21 vowels, this alphabet was originally created in the 15th century. In English, words are grouped together in a linear pattern with individual letters grouped one-by-one. In Korean, Hangul letters are grouped together according to syllables. So one “letter” in Hangul is actually many sounds put together.