100 Things Foreigners Want to Know About Korea: Culture · Food · Etiquette · Daily Life

Korea is easy to visit. It is surprisingly hard to read. The subway is spotless, the food is extraordinary, and strangers will walk you to the right exit. So why does Google Maps keep failing? Why did the server chase you down the street to return your tip? And why does everyone want to know your age? This book answers the hundred questions that guidebooks skip and locals never think to explain. Most Korea guides tell you which palace to visit. Very few tell you how the country actually works — how to read a subway exit number, what happens when the bill arrives, why the cafés are full of students at midnight, or what people mean when they use a word that has no English translation. That gap is where most visitors get quietly lost. A few of the questions answered inside: Why does Google Maps not work properly in Korea — and what do locals use instead? What are subway exit numbers, and why do they matter more than the station? Do I need to tip? (And what happens if I try?) How spicy is Korean food, really — and how do I order it milder? Can I eat alone in a Korean restaurant? Why do Koreans ask my age within minutes of meeting me? What are nunchi and jeong, and why does everyone keep mentioning them? What is a jjimjilbang, and how do I use one without embarrassing myself? Will Koreans be friendly to a foreigner — honestly? Is Korea really like the K-dramas? Built to be used, not just read. 100 questions, each answered on its own. Open to any page. Nothing assumes you read what came before. Every question opens with a Quick Answer. Get the short version in ten seconds, then keep reading if you want the context. Practical detail that survives contact with reality — T-money cards, KTX booking, Kakao T, Naver Maps, tax refunds, pharmacies, emergency numbers. Beyond Seoul. Busan, Gyeongju, Jeju, Jeonju, temple stays, the DMZ, and day trips worth the early start. Two reference appendices — every place and every dish mentioned in the book, with map and photo links you can tap. Honest about the parts that are harder to explain. This is not a tourism brochure. Alongside the food and the palaces, the book takes on education pressure, the cost of housing, appearance and beauty culture, inequality, politics, and the idea of han — because understanding a place means understanding what it struggles with, not only what it advertises. Who this is for First-time visitors planning a trip. Travellers already booked who want to arrive prepared. Anyone curious about Korea through its food, dramas, music, or history who would like the fuller picture. About the author Gwanghee Yi was born and raised in South Korea and later studied physics at Northeastern University in Boston. He has spent years in the technology industry and now works as a robotics engineer. He writes about Korea from the inside, with the outsider's memory of what needed explaining. Read the first pages free with Look Inside.