Life in Korea – What is illegal? Koreans dont get stdS? Public affection? – Out – Of

Hi guys!

This blogpost is about some things, you might want to be aware of if you come to Korea for a longer time period.

#1 Don’t show your shoulders/cleavage

It’s not appropriate (as a girl) to wear clothes that show your shoulders or a lot of cleavage. You might get evil stares especially from the older generation. Wearing short dresses, skirts or pants is fine and absolutely acceptable. Nowadays you might see younger girls dressing with showing shoulder or cleavage – a lot of the time around Itaewon or Hongdae area, which tend to be more “hip”, international and young districts.

#2 Prostitution and abortion is illegal

Prostitution is illegal in Korea – that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist though. There are a lot of places like scatchy karaoke rooms/bars or “talking bars” that offer “karaoke” girls as companions. I heard that there are also some massage places that offer more than just a relaxing spa visit. Look out for places that have two spinning poles (similar to the ones in front of barber shops) next to each other – that’s a sign that you can get some “fun” there.

Same with abortion. Just because it’s illegal, doesn’t mean you can’t get it. I heard if you need it, you can find clinics that do it.

Edit: The current abortion law gets rewritten and it’s expected to be legal by the end of 2020!

#3 “Koreans don’t get STDs”

Yupp – a lot of Koreans seriously think they can’t get STDs (sexually transmitted diseases), because they’re “clean” and that it’s a thing coming from foreign countries. So the usage of condoms isn’t that common. But please – stay safe and always use one, especially if you don’t know the other person that well!

#4 Porn is banned

You can’t watch porn in Korea. There is no porn industry whatsoever – even foreign websites are banned online. Koreans most of the time use a VPN to get access to foreign porn websites though.

#5 Public Affection

Dating and showing off as a couple is a big thing in korean culture – but not showing concrete affection in public, such as kissing! You’ll see couples holding hands or sometimes hugging, but this is all. Showing more affection – especially kissing or touching each other – is not appropriate. I seriously think I’ve never seen a couple kissing here. On the other side: i’ve seen couples having a fight in public many times though, haha!