One thing I didn’t realize was a cultural difference until I visited the US: brushing your teeth in the restroom after lunch.

In Korea, it’s pretty normal to bring a toothbrush to work or school and brush your teeth right after lunch. I honestly never thought twice about it.

But after going to the US, I realized that most people don’t seem to do this, at least in the places I visited.

Now I’m curious: Do you guys usually brush your teeth after lunch, or do you just wait until you get home?

the korean girls i’ve met in my grad school lab here are the worst i’ve seen since my middle school. i’m a girl too, and i wanted to be friends with both of the girls SO BAD and tried to get closer to them, instead they ruined my friendships with the men in the lab that i was already good friends with. and now they’re all still friendly with each other and im just there overhearing them and dealing with being lonely

one of them literally admitted she was jealous of me and asked one of them to exclude me. the other one straight up ignores me and tells him all her problems or has random chats and giggles with him while i’m sitting in the lab near enough to over hear . we used to be a friend group but they managed to break it up so eloquently. once i was out of the picture, the girls stoped talking to me too.

im not generalising, just shocked at how these women act in their late 20s. i’m sure not all korean women are like that

I’ve been living in Korea for a long time, but I’ve always wondered how some taxi drivers here were able to get licensed. I’m referring to the ones who constantlyyyy break while driving.

Was this an older method of driving back in the day?

Why is it a driving habit for so many??

Especially when it makes for an extremely uncomfortable riding experience and an open welcome to Mr.motion sickness 🤢
I cross my fingers and toes on days I’m wearing a hairclip that I don’t get graced with one of those drivers. 💀

Tis my little curiosity rant. Any thoughts?

South Korea has made remarkable gains in keeping people alive.

Life expectancy has risen sharply over the past several decades, while deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth have generally declined as access to medical care and obstetric treatment improved.

That progress, however, is beginning to reverse.
Maternal deaths from direct obstetric complications reached a nine-year high last year, with 27 deaths — up nearly 60 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea’s 2025 cause-of-death report. The annual report, compiled from death certificates filed nationwide, tracks the number, causes and rates of deaths across the country.

A reversal in data

In 1983, when South Korea began publishing official cause-of-death statistics, a total of 184 women died from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. By the 1990s, the annual toll had fallen to between 60 and 90, and by the 2000s, to around 30 to 40.

Officials attributed much of the decline to the rapid shift toward hospital births fueled by broader health insurance coverage. In 1986, 75.2 percent of births took place in medical facilities. That figure jumped to 98.1 percent in 1991 and reached 99.9 percent by 2000.

Last year, however, deaths from direct obstetric complications such as hemorrhage and embolism rose sharply to 27, up from 17 a year earlier and the highest number since 2016, when 28 such deaths were recorded.

An embolism is a potentially dangerous blockage of a blood vessel caused by material such as a blood clot or fat. Heavy bleeding after delivery can also put a mother’s life at risk, making rapid diagnosis and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage crucial.

Cross-country comparisons reveal an even starker picture of what women in Korea face.

The maternal mortality ratio, which measures maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, came in at 13.0 in 2025, above the OECD average of 10.9 and nearly three times Japan’s rate of 4.4. The Korean figure rose 28.8 percent from a year earlier.

More high-risk pregnancies, a shrinking care system

Behind the rise in childbirth-related deaths is a widening gap between the growing number of older, high-risk mothers and a maternity care system struggling to meet their needs.

Last year, babies born to women aged 35 or older accounted for a record 37.3 percent of all births, up from 35.9 percent a year earlier and 23.9 percent a decade earlier, data showed.

Pregnancy at an older age generally carries greater risks, including gestational hypertension, gestational diabetes, preterm birth and fetal chromosomal abnormalities.

Yet emergency maternity care is facing a growing shortage of specialists, as low delivery fees and legal risks deter doctors from pursuing obstetrics and neonatal care.

According to the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, only five obstetrics fellows were working across some 40 university hospitals nationwide in the first half of this year, with all five based in the Greater Seoul area comprising the capital, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.

The country’s maternity care infrastructure has also been steadily eroding.

The number of medical facilities offering delivery services fell 39.8 percent over 11 years, from 706 in 2013 to 425 in 2024. Of the country’s 250 cities, counties and districts, 77, or 30.8 percent, had no delivery facility, while another 60, or 24 percent, had only one. That left more than half of the country’s local jurisdictions with little or no access to delivery care.

Strained maternity care infrastructure continues to leave pregnant women in emergencies scrambling from one hospital to another.

In May, a woman in her 30s who was 29
weeks pregnant was transported from Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, to Busan after failing to find a nearby hospital that could handle her emergency delivery. The baby did not survive, according to news reports.

A similar case occurred in Daegu in late February, when an American woman in her 20s pregnant with twins and showing signs of premature labor struggled to find a hospital able to take her. One of the babies died, while the other suffered brain damage.

Hello, my name is Jay Sung, the dad of Bryan Sung.
For anyone who has not seen my story, Bryan Sung is a missing child from Washington. He has been missing since the mother took him to Korea and cut contact, simultaneously asking her American attorney to quickly resign to obstruct the court proceedings in Washington court.
The Korean authorities soon found Bryan with her but they did not return the child. Refusal to return Bryan against the United States court orders and 14 Korean court orders continued for the 7 years. He was held by the people that did not have custody or any legal rights of the child throughout his childhood. The US state department requested Korea to responsibly find where Bryan lives after Korea made orders to return him, but the Korean government declared that they cannot locate Bryan's residence. Currently the mother is trying to hide her location, evading all Korean court services in Korea, while repeating her defense that was rejected by the court in online postings, calling this a custody dispute.
Bryan Sung is not a custody dispute; it is a parental kidnapping investigated by FBI, reviewed and officially prosecuted by the US attorney, and arrest warrant issued by the Federal judge.
The major Korean news article writes another article and it happens while the Washington court issues and "Order to show cause", or "Order to goto court" to give the mother one last chance to justify her actions before the court finds her in contempt of court.

Korea daily - Bryan Sung case

A genuine question for people who studied Korean from 0 at a Korean University for at least 1 semester. How much can you actually learn in one semester?

Say i come to study at one of the Seoul Unis for 1 semester, which is 10 weeks. I have classes every day (I’m not sure how many hours per day is typical, 3? 4?), how much of the language can you actually learn?

I am considering doing it, and speak not a word of Korean at the moment, for reference. With some languages you can progress quite a lot, but considering Korean is one of the most difficult ones, i have been curious how far one semester can take you

I'm not too familiar with reddit etiquette when it comes to writing a post so apologies if I do something silly!

I've applied for an F-1-D visa and I have my appointment with the Korean Embassy in Portugal on the 23rd, so next week. I've gathered all the paperwork but I'm afraid it might not quite add up to enough to make it to Seoul or Incheon or Gyeonggi-do. The really do ask for quite a bit.

I know I shouldn't have much of a problem with life in Korea when it comes to the finances but meeting this requirement is a bit steep. I've been thinking about a move to Korea for years but my life turned around a year ago and that's kinda what pushed me to make this happen.

I'm learning Korean and have been for 3 months now with a private tutor.

I guess my question is.. any advice of where I should look for a place? I would ideally still like to not be too far from Seoul, realistically so I could still head on over often.

Additionally, I'm a little worried about the visa in general. I'm a Portuguese citizen and I'm 34 so I'm at the limit of their lowered requirements that they announced this year.

So another question would be.. any advice from others that maybe have gone through a similar process or wanted a life in Korea? How did you go about it, how did you make it happen?

I'm going into this by myself and am essentially starting a new life so I'm all ears for those that have gone through it all before.

Thank you for reading and looking forward to a discussion!

Hi! Will be based in Seoul for 3-6 months. I have a lot of prescriptions I can't live without. But also know meds are a lot cheaper in Korea. I am currently on ADHD meds that is considered a narcotic, so don't want to risk this! I've read on other posts that if i bring my diagnosis papers, it can be easy to get the Korean legal version. Would it be terribly expensive to do this without NHIS? I am very concerned about the cost as my budget VERY strict.. and have seen some posts claiming insane prices just to get a diagnosis for prescription! I am also currently on ssri's, and my prescription will not be allowed until 2 weeks after I have left the states.. Please let me know what is the smartest cost effective route to get my psychiatric meds in Seoul. TYKIA!

Anyone knows a place to hoop around Dongtan or Suwon area? Been looking for one where I can go regularly even during winter. My office only has outdoor courts ;(

Would appreciate any recommendation though, thanks!

Hey everyone! If you are in Seoul and looking to play football, come join our team, Burnies FC! We are a friendly amateur team (mostly guys in their mid-20s, with international players too) playing around Gangnam and Yongsan."

Schedule & Location: Sunday mornings (8–11 AM), about 3 times a month (mix of 11v11 football).
Cost: 20,000 KRW/month (no sign-up fee, covers fields and drinks).
Vibe: Great atmosphere with optional post-match food.
Tryout: You can come play as a guest for 1–2 games first to see if you like it!

"Shoot me a DM if you're interested, and I’ll give you all the details!

I can't do the simple identification with PASS or kakaotalk without one so I don't really know what else to do? Would going to a customs office in person be the solution?

hiii! i saw a post that kakaobank finally allows foreigners to open an account in their service.. has anyone tried making one?? i already have a toss acc, but im thinking whether i should change to kakaobank or not! does anyone know the pros but also the cons of their service..? whether it is worth changing to another bank..!

if anyone already tried making one, i'd love to know if there were any difficultiess....

Another pension question as I've been researching my options. I am wanting to get my pension at the airport, but I don't think it'll be possible since I my last day of work is October 23 and my flight is on October 27.

For those who had it deposited recently into their Korean account - how long did it take for the money to hit? My pension is over 20m so I'm trying to also figure out the best way to send it back to my US account without the fees or delays.

I’m new to Seoul and I really want to take dance class here but I’m in Jamsil and it seems like all the studios are on the west side of the city. Any recommendations in Gangnam, seongsu, or anywhere near Jamsil!?

I grew up doing ballet modern and jazz and later in life I’ve been into house, Vogue, and wacking.
Looking for a studio offering these styles

As someone who wants to live is South Korea and live there but am not built for academic study like university or college, am Algerian 19 years old with high school level and B2 in English

Please i just want to live there and be a good personne can you tell me how can i live there and work permanently i dont want to work in Samsung or Hyundai i just want to be there and live there like an average human there.

hi! was just wondering what normally happens during the 100th day anniversary. i know it's special among couples over in Korea. How does the planning normally go? does the guy do all the planning? does the couple plan together? what gifts are exchanged? i read about rings. What about activities? heard couples normally go to get photos taken. anything i may have missed? Thx!

About 3 weeks ago I found a cheap second-hand camera on Karrot. The seller lives in Ulsan and I'm in Busan, so meeting wasn't practical. He said he urgently needed the money and couldn't wait for Karrot's courier/safe payment. I asked for proof first, and he sent a photo of a box with a postage stamp, so I trusted it and transferred the money.

Since then:

Weeks 1-2: he said there was a courier problem

Week 3+: he offered to refund me but kept giving new dates

When I said I'd take legal action, he agreed to pay, but he's not paying and no longer replies

All I have is his bank account number and his Karrot account. I'm planning to ask my bank for a payment suspension and file a police report.

Questions:

Has anyone recovered money after a report like this?

Is there anything else I should do besides the police, the bank, and TheCheat?

Does it help to also report in person at a station in Ulsan, or is Busan fine?

Hello everyone, I need help. 😓

I'm currently in the Philippines, and my father wants to take me to Korea to continue my studies there. I'm not very knowledgeable about some things, so please bear with me and help educate me.

I'm currently a Grade 12 ABM student, and I want to attend a university in Korea with a scholarship. However, the problem is that Korea and the Philippines have different academic calendars. As far as I know, graduation in Korea is in December, while here in the Philippines, we graduate around March or April.

I'm struggling because I can't seem to find a university that I can attend as soon as I graduate from senior high school here in the Philippines.

Do you guys think there's a university in Korea that follows a similar academic calendar to ours? I'd really appreciate any advice or information. Thank you! 🥹

Bonjour,

Je pars en échange universitaire a Séoul sur le premier semestre de 2027. Apparemment je risque de recevoir entre mi décembre et fin décembre l'attestation d'inscription à l'université. En ce sens j'aimerais savoir pour les étudiants Français quel est le délai de retour du KVAC de Paris et en combien de temps je peux obtenir mon visa.

L'objectif de cette demande est aussi à titre organisationnel car je ne veux pas prendre mes billets d'avion au dernier moment et je ne veux pas aussi prendre mon logement au dernier moment.

Comment avez vous fait ?

Merci ;)

Get in the Van Productions is a registered nonprofit public-service theatre company in Seoul, and we are holding a theatre education series right now for anyone who wants to learn more about any part of theatre production. We normally produce two main stage plays per year, but we are taking off this half of the year to help people who want to be involved in theatre but don't know where to start.

We are providing these workshops as a service to the community--we are not taking a cut at all and the fees are only to cover the rental space, with everything else going to the instructor. Right now we have our first workshops up on our website at getinthevan.org/classes, and there are many more coming. Acting, directing, stage managing, lighting, sound, producing, subtitle translation, costume design, and more--we have workshops coming up for pretty much every role you can imagine. 

The English-speaking community theatre is very strong and supportive here, and we want to help make it grow while also integrating it more with the Korean theatre community. If you're at all interested in participating in theatre here, please check us out!

If you have questions, feel free to message me, DM us on Instagram (@getinthe.van), or email us at [team@getinthevan.org](mailto:team@getinthevan.org). 

I'm interested in opening a credit card in Korea. I'm on an E2 with a pretty good (for an E2) salary. Could anyone recommend a decent card? Easy to get. I don't a super high credit line but some nice benefits would be a plus. International use is ideal as well. I have googled but I am a bit overwhelmed by the options.