Korean Etiquette for Visitors: Shoes, Subway, Toilets and Trash

You often need to take off your shoes before entering a house (VisitKorea). The same applies in hanok guesthouses, the floor-seating sections of some restaurants, temple halls and jjimjilbang (bathhouses).

The cue is a raised floor, a step up, or a shoe rack at the entrance. Take your shoes off there, before you step up. Leave them neatly on the rack or facing the door. A sign may say 신발 벗는 곳sinbal beonneun gotTake off shoes here.

Wear socks without holes. Slip-on shoes save time when you do this several times a day.

A small nod or bow with 안녕하세요annyeonghaseyoHello is the usual greeting. Say 감사합니다gamsahamnidaThank you when you receive something.

When you give or receive money, a card, a gift or a business card, use both hands, or one hand with the other touching your wrist or forearm. With older people this matters more. At a shop counter, nobody minds if you use one hand.

• Wait for the oldest person to start eating, or for the host to invite you.
• Do not stand chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. It resembles offerings made at memorial rites. Lay them on the table or the rest.
• Pouring drinks. Pour for others, not yourself, and hold the bottle with two hands for an older person. When an older person pours for you, hold your glass with two hands. Turning slightly away to drink in front of a senior is a common courtesy.
• Sharing dishes. Side dishes are shared. Use the serving spoon or your own chopsticks only for your bite.
• Paying. Someone often pays for the whole table, and the other person pays next time. If you want to split, say so before the bill.

For ordering, kiosks and paying at the counter, see how to order at a restaurant.

Keep calls short and quiet. Wear your backpack on your front or hold it low in crowded cars.

Leave the 노약자석noyakjaseokPriority seats at the ends of each car free for older passengers, disabled passengers and people with small children, even when the car is empty. Many cars also have a pink 임산부 배려석imsanbu baeryeoseokSeat for pregnant women. Most locals leave it empty so that a pregnant passenger can sit without asking.

Let people off before you board, and queue at the marked lines on the platform. See the Seoul subway guide for gates, transfers and exits.

People may ask your age soon after meeting you. Korean speech changes with the relative age of the speakers, so it helps them choose the right level. Since the Civil Act was revised in 2022, Korean law counts age in full years from your birthday (law.go.kr). Some people still mention an older "Korean age", which can be one or two years higher.

You will not be expected to use honorifics correctly. A polite tone and 요yoPolite sentence ending at the end of simple phrases go a long way.

Public toilets are marked 화장실hwajangsilToilet. Subway stations, department stores and public buildings have free ones.

Korean rules for public toilets say a toilet stall should not have a waste bin, except stalls for disabled or older users or those with a baby-changing table. Women's stalls should have a small bin for sanitary products (Enforcement Decree of the Act on Public Toilets, Article 7). So flush toilet paper. In an older building with a sign asking you to use the bin, follow the sign.

Toilet paper is sometimes in one dispenser by the sinks, not in each stall. Take some before you go in. Café and convenience-store toilets are often locked; the code is usually printed on your receipt.

Street bins are rare in Korean cities. Households and shops pay for waste through district bags, called 종량제 봉투jongnyangje bongtuPay-as-you-throw bag, which is one reason public bins are few. Look for bins in subway stations, at convenience stores, in cafés and in parks. Carry a small bag for your own rubbish.

Sorted bins use these labels:

• 일반쓰레기ilban sseuregiGeneral waste
• 재활용jaehwaryongRecycling
• 플라스틱peullaseutikPlastic
• 캔kaenCans
• 음식물 쓰레기eumsingmul sseuregiFood waste

Empty drinks before you bin the cup. If you rent an apartment, ask your host how food waste works in that building.

Smoke only where it is allowed. Smoking in a designated no-smoking area can bring a fine of up to ₩100,000 under the National Health Promotion Act (law.go.kr). The same article sets a fine of up to ₩100,000 for drinking in a designated no-drinking zone. Watch for 금연geumyeonNo smoking, 흡연구역heubyeon guyeokSmoking area and 금주구역geumju guyeokNo-drinking zone signs.

To buy alcohol or tobacco you must not count as a youth under the Juvenile Protection Act: under 19, unless 1 January of the year you turn 19 has passed (law.go.kr).

Scenery and streets are fine to photograph. Ask before photographing people up close, children, staff, or the inside of a small shop. Museums, temples and some exhibitions post 촬영 금지chwaryeong geumjiNo photography signs.

Say 죄송합니다joesonghamnidaI'm sorry with a small nod. To get past someone, say 실례합니다sillyehamnidaExcuse me. A short, sincere apology is enough.

• You walked onto a raised floor in shoes. Step back, take them off and apologize. People will understand.
• No toilet paper in the stall. Check the dispenser by the sinks. Carry tissues as a backup.
• No bin anywhere. Keep the rubbish until the next station or convenience store.
• Someone asks your age. It is not rude here. Answer if you are comfortable, or smile and change the subject.