Did you know?
Babies in South Korea are automatically One year old upon birth.
Interesting, isn’t it? With its recent economic and Entertainment industry booming, South Korea has become a popular destination site.
Despite being small, South Korea is an incredibly rich and varied country.
Additionally, South Korea is much more than K-pop & K-dramas and It is a place filled with interesting facts that you should know. So let’s jump on to them.
Lesser-Known facts about South Korea
1. Children born in South Korea are considered “one year old” when they are born and will turn two on the next Lunar New Year. 100 days after their birth, a celebration is held for the baby.
2. Unlike the majority of men, South Korean men love makeup, spending close to US$900 million a year, or a quarter of the world’s men’s cosmetics. Up to 20% of the male Korean population is reported to use makeup regularly.
3. With just 3.2% of South Koreans being overweight, South Korea is one of the least obese countries.
4. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) declared that South Korea is the country with the highest estimated national IQ on Earth.
5. Christmas is an official holiday in South Korea, with almost 1/3 of South Koreans being Christians. Santa Claus may be wearing a blue, rather than a red, suit in South Korea, and he is also known as Santa Kulloso (Grandfather Santa).
Fun facts about South Korea
6. In South Korea, tattoo artists must have a doctor’s license to legally give someone a tattoo.
7. 6 out of 10 families seek professional help to find a name for their kids.
8. The most common family names in South Korea are Kim, Lee, and Park. More than 20% of South Koreans have Kim as their Surname.
9. Their not-so-friendly neighbor North Korea uses a fax machine to send threats to South Korea.
Read more: 25 Unbelievable Facts about North Korea that you must know
10. Korean education is one of the most competitive in the world, On average a high school student studies for 8 hours a day.
Insane facts about South Korea
11. In 1999 South Korea passed a law that requires all online shopping and banking to be done using Internet Explorer. It is still in place.
12. Most South Korean restaurants offer food delivery via motorcycle drivers who are notorious for speeding through traffic to deliver the food on time. After you are done eating, you can just put your dirty dishes outside your door, and the delivery guy will come for them later.
13. Taxis in South Korea are color-coded according to the level of service offered. An orange or silver taxi is a basic car, while the black cabs are luxury cars.
14. Samsung alone is responsible for 20% of South Korea´s $1.1 trillion economy. While most people assume that Samsung only produces electronics, the company also manufactures armored vehicles, appliances, door locks, oil tankers, medical equipment, and much more.
15. Some of the tallest buildings in the world, Burj Kalifa, Taipai 101, and Petronas twin towers, were built by Samsung.
Fun facts about South Korea
16. Unlike the rest of the world, Plastic surgery is completely normalized in South Korea.
With nearly 1 million procedures a year, Seoul has the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries. And South Korea is often called the world’s plastic surgery capital.
Some estimates have suggested that around one in three South Korean women between 19 and 29 have had plastic surgery. Others have put that number at 50% or higher.
17. More than 90% of the world’s seaweed consumption comes from Korea.
18. About 63% of South Korea is covered in forest.
19. South Korea is well known for its practice of “crime re-creation.” In this practice, Suspects are led by the police in handcuffs to the crime scene and ordered to publically reenact the crime. To make the reenactment even more humiliating, the media is also invited to take pictures and publish details about the crime.
20. Because the internet is so fast, cybersports are a big deal in South Korea! Stadiums of big-screen TVs are used for the competitions.
Surprising facts about South Korea
21. All South Korean men are constitutionally required to serve in the military, typically for two years.
22. Despite South Korea having very high living standards, suicide is a serious and widespread problem. South Korea has the 2nd highest suicide rate in the world according to the World Health Organization.
23. With his film Parasite, Bong Joon-ho became the First non-American to win an Oscar award for both directing and best film.
24. Korean women have three different hairstyles, and they reveal a lot about their age & marital status. For instance, Young girls wear long hair, newly married women cut them short at about ear level, and older women get a perm, almost without exception.
25. In South Korea, scissors are used to cut meat, noodles, vegetables, and kimchi.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading about 25 Awesome facts about South Korea that everyone must know.
And in case you’re interested in reading other articles:
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