Korea, The Long Way is a blog about Korean culture — the stories, traditions, and everyday life behind what you see in K-pop, K-dramas, and travel videos. Each article takes one custom and follows it back to where it began, explained simply in plain English.
It is written by kiggaboi77, who was born and raised in Korea and has lived in the United States for about 30 years. That two-sided view shapes everything here: Korea explained from the inside, with the questions an outsider would actually ask.
Why “the long way”? Because the short answer is rarely the whole story. Ask why Koreans take off their shoes indoors and you will hear “to keep the floor clean.” True — but the long way goes further: through ondol heated floors, centuries of sitting and sleeping on the floor, and the quiet meaning of the entryway.
Three ideas guide every article: 천천히 (slowly) — one custom at a time; 깊이 (deeply) — researched from reliable sources and compared with other cultures; 진심 (sincerely) — written from real experience on both sides.
New here? Start with the latest articles on the homepage, or visit “Say It in Korean” for 32 essential Korean expressions with pronunciation audio.