As Koreans are busy building their economy, you may wonder whether they have time for extracurricular activities.
Thankfully, they do and participate in many hobbies, some of which the government encourages.
Keep reading to learn about Korean-related hobbies.
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Many Koreans are usually tired because of their busy daily lives. However, many still find time to engage in their hobbies and interests. The most popular hobbies are mostly divided depending on age. For instance, many aged men love participating in fishing and hiking while children love drawing anime-like cartoons. Other hobbies in which they may participate are reading books of various genres, playing games like MMORPGs, etc.
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Seven Hobbies That Koreans Love
1. Gaming
It is no wonder many video games come from Korean developers.
Individuals here participate in both traditional and modern (online) games. Let’s look at some popular ones:
Yutnori
It is a board dice game played with wooden sticks, usually on the first day of the New Year.
The game involves two players or teams who take turns to throw yut sticks.
The sticks have one round side and another flat side, making a stick roll.
Players need to make a combination with the sticks; m, yut, gae, geol, and do.
If a player’s stick lands on their opponent’s side, it’s taken back to the starting point, and the player has to start again.
If it falls on the player’s side, they may form a combination that determines how the sticks will be moved. The player with four sticks around the board wins the game.
Lineage W
Koreans spend a lot of time on their mobile phones.
Thus, it has increased the mobile gaming industry.
Lineage W is a popular mobile game, especially in South Korea.
It is played online with multiple players and features a fictional medieval European world.
Individuals play it from a third-person perspective, where they assume a role in the available classes with unique skills and abilities.
The game requires cooperation from players to complete quests and battle enemies. This online game has various gameplay modes like the PvP mode and PvE mode.
2. Social Media and Messaging
Koreans are using social media as an entertainment source more than communicating with their family and friends.
And this hobby cuts across most age groups.
Most spend time viewing entertaining sources, searching for information, and messaging.
Please bear in mind that Korea is a high-tech country, so it’s no surprise that many people are on social media. Some of the most social media sites in Korea include;
KaKao Talk
This is a chat software tool for Koreans. It is free and has more than 35 million users in Korea.
A survey by Hankook Research showed that more than 70% of Koreans use this network.
Facebook is a popular site in many countries.
About 7 to 8 years ago, Koreans could hardly communicate with each other online without Facebook.
The site remains popular today in this country.
Many people using it are aged 15-29. And they mostly use it to disclose personal pictures, share interesting videos or information, and make friends. Surprisingly, Koreans do not use Facebook to make friends.
Korea is among the leading countries with many Instagram users.
This platform is mostly images than text, which is it’s main appeal.
In fact, many Korean actors and idols use Instagram.
This is where you will find many Koreans in their free time.
3. Drawing and Painting
Did you know that the art market in Korea has more than 50 local galleries with fantastic pieces in beautifully produced exhibitions?
Yes, Korea is a home of art, and many people focus on traditional mediums like painting, drawing, and calligraphy.
Artists here connect art to naturalism and create simplicity by harmonious composition.
Painting was a prominent art medium in the 20th century in Korea.
Some popular paintings in this country include Tao-Shamanist and Buddhist paintings.
While drawing and painting are mostly practiced by children, even grown adults engage in this art and, surprisingly, make money out of it.
4. Eating and Drinking Out
Koreans are known for many good things.
But among them is eating and drinking out with friends and colleagues.
Food and drinks are such a big deal in this country. In fact, one of the first ways a Korean shows they care about you is when they try to feed or encourage you to eat.
Even in most Korean movies, you will not miss some form of food and people eating together. And if you thought they eat or drink anyhow, you couldn’t be more wrong.
Koreans use stainless steel utensils when they eat, and they focus on safe and hygienic foods.
Afterwards, they will accompany their meals with a coffee. When it comes to drinking alcoholic beverages,
Koreans have strict etiquette rules. For example, if an elder gives you a glass of alcohol, you must receive it with two hands and bow your head slightly.
Their favorite dishes include instant noodles, kimchi stew, soft tofu stew, and chiaki, and the most popular drinks in this country are soju, banana milk, makgeolli, and cheongju.
5. Sports
Sports are heavily encouraged by the Korean government.
Soccer is the most common sport in this country.
However, there are many others, including:
Baseball
Baseball is a popular sport in Korea, and the country even has a professional league.
Although Korean baseball has many players, the fans and cheerleaders are twice as many.
The country has several teams, each having its own culture and anthem. Fans sing and dance excitedly during the games.
Taekwondo
This is more of an art than a sport in Korean.
But since it involves physical activity, it can be considered a sport. It involves fast kicking and jumping techniques.
Taekwondo was included in the core Olympic program.
This demonstration sport gained its official media status in 2000.
Taekwondo performance was recently developed, which combines taekwondo movements with K-pop music to make things more interesting.
Many people love this movement, and several teams like K-Tigers have been developed.
6. Hiking
Mountains cover 70% of the Korean peninsula.
So it is easy to see why Koreans love hiking so much.
Previously, Koreans practiced hiking once a month. But over the last few years, it has become a common occurrence.
Everyone, from children to adults and even tourists, keeps this tradition that connects them to their homeland.
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Hiking is more than a hobby in this place.
Even those who stay in urban areas, where there aren’t scenic views of the mountain, still wear mountaineering clothes while doing their daily activities.
However, while hiking is fun, doing this activity in the Korean mountains can be challenging and need some resilience, which Koreans seem to have.
7. Music
Many Koreans are naturally blessed with beautiful voices.
But some are trained to sing at a pretty young age.
For instance, preschools in the country teach children to sing about their leaders and revolutionary glories.
There are many bands in Korea, and individuals also love karaoke, where they spend time singing their hearts out.
Final Thoughts
Well, there is the list of hobbies related to Korean culture.
Other hobbies in Korea vary depending ona person’s background, location, financial status, etc.
But they include traveling, pet breeding, swimming, shopping, and studying a foreign language.
References
Korea 101: Favourite hobbies of the next Olympic host country
https://www.linkfluence.com/blog/the-unique-case-of-korean-social-media