1. Advanced information technology

In South Korea, Internet users account for 82.7% of the total population, and smartphone users also reach 78.5%. Among young people aged 18 to 24, 97.7% of people are using smartphones. People not only use apps like Naver Line or Kakao Talk on their smartphones to chat, but they also use their phones to pay shopping bills, watch live TV programs on the subway, or scan QR codes in virtual supermarkets.

2. Popularity of credit cards

Data from the Bank of Korea show that two years ago (2011) South Korea became the world’s largest credit card country. That year, Americans made an average of 77.9 credit card transactions, Canadians made 89.6, and South Koreans made a whopping 129.7. According to Korean law, no merchant is allowed to refuse a customer's credit card request regardless of the transaction amount. Even taxis are equipped with credit card machines.

3. Desperate workaholics

Among the more than thirty member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Koreans have the highest education rate. 98% of Koreans have received secondary education and 63% have received higher education. In 2012, data released by South Korea's Ministry of Strategy and Finance showed that Koreans worked an average of 44.6 hours a week, while the average working hours in OECD countries was 32.8 hours.

4. Commercial liquor culture

In 2013, Jinro Soju, South Korea’s No. 1 soju brand, became the world’s best-selling spirits brand for the 11th consecutive year, and Koreans were among them. major consumers. Jinro’s sales volume is greater than that of Smirnoff Vodka, the world’s top-selling foreign liquor. In 2013, the sales volume of this vodka was 37.48 million bottles, ranking second.

5. Professional StarCraft players

In South Korea, StarCraft players are a legal profession, and players can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to signing fees. According to statistics from the Korean National Information Center, such a cultural environment has caused nearly 14 children between the ages of 9 and 12 to be addicted to the Internet.

6. Common blind dates

"Blind dates" are very common in South Korea. Duo is the largest matchmaking company in South Korea. Its statistics show that single office workers "match each other" from the first time. The average time between "blind date" meeting and marriage was 10.2 months, during which time they went on an average of 62 dates.

7. First-class plastic surgery

Kwon Seung-tae, a doctor at Seoul National University Hospital, told reporters: "In the United States, it is necessary to perform an ordinary, not very good, face-lifting surgery. It costs about US$10,000 (approximately RMB 60,000), while the same surgery in South Korea only costs US$2,000 to US$3,000. “Plastic surgery in South Korea is relatively cheaper.

People's Daily Online - Ten cultural characteristics you should know before traveling to South Korea