ajeossi an older or married man.
ajumma an older or married woman.
-am hermitage.
anju bar snacks.
-bang room.
-bawi boulder or large rock.
-bong mountain peak. The highest peak in a park is often referred to as ilchulbong (“Number One Peak”).
buk- north.
buncheong a Korean style of pottery that became popular in Joseon times. The end product is often bluish-green in colour.
celadon a Korean style of pottery (also common in China and Japan), used since the Three Kingdoms period but largely overtaken by buncheong in Joseon times. The end product is often pale green in colour, with a cracked glaze.
cha tea.
Chuseok Korean Thanksgiving.
dae- big, large, great.
Dangun mythical founder of Korea.
DMZ the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.
-do island.
-dong city neighbourhood; part of a –gu.
dong- east.
dongdongju a milky rice wine much favoured by Korean students; very similar to makgeolli.
DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
-ga section of a major street.
-gang river of over 100km in length.
-gil street.
gisaeng Female entertainers popular in dynastic times.
-gu district of a city, subdivided into –dong neighbourhoods.
-gung palace.
gwageo civil service examinations in the Joseon era.
Gyopo Koreans, or people of Korean descent, living overseas.
hagwon private academy for after-school study. Many expats in Korea work at an English academy (yeongeo hagwon).
hallyu the “Korean New Wave” of pop culture, most specifically cinematic produce.
hanbok traditional Korean clothing.
hangeul the Korean alphabet.
hanja Chinese characters, which are still sometimes used in Korea.
hanji traditional handmade paper.
hanok a style of traditional, tile-roofed wooden housing.
-ho lake; also used for those artificially created after the construction of a dam.
hof a Korean-style bar.
insam ginseng.
jaebeol major Korean corporation.
-jeon temple hall.
jjimjilbang Korean spa-cum-sauna facilities, often used by families, youth groups and the occasional budget traveller.
KNTO Korea National Tourism Organization.
KTX the fastest class of Korean train.
makgeolli a milky rice wine much favoured by Korean students; very similar to dongdongju.
minbak rented rooms in a private house or building, most commonly found near beaches and national park entrances.
mudang practitioner of shamanism; usually female.
mugunghwa Korea’s third-highest level of train, one below a saemaeul. Named after Korea’s national flower, a variety of hibiscus.
-mun city or fortress gate.
-myo Confucian shrine.
nam- south.
nocheonnyeo an “over-the-hill” female – Korean women have long been expected to marry by the age of thirty, though this is slowly changing.
noraebang a “singing room” often the venue of choice for the end of a night out.
oncheon hot-spring bath or spa.
ondol traditional underfloor system of heating, made by wood fires underneath traditional buildings, but replaced with gas-fired systems in Korean apartments and modern houses.
pansori Korean opera derived from shamanistic songs, sung by female vocalists to minimalist musical accompaniment.
-pokpo waterfalls.
pyeong Korean unit of measurement equivalent to approximately 3.3 square metres.
-ro large street; sometimes pronounced – no.
ROK Republic of Korea.
-sa temple.
saemaeul Korea’s second-highest level of train, one faster than a mugunghwa but slower than a KTX. Also the name of the “New Community Movement” inaugurated by Korean president Park Chung-hee in the 1970s.
-san mountain; often used to describe an entire range.
sanseong mountain fortress.
seo- west.
Seon Korean Buddhist sect proximate to Zen in Japan.
seonsaengnim title for a teacher, which goes before the family name, or (mistakenly) after the given name in the case of most expat teachers in Korea.
seowon Confucian academy, most prevalent in Joseon times.
-si city, subdivided into –gu districts.
soju clear alcoholic drink (around twenty percent alcohol by volume) which is often compared to vodka, and usually cheaper than water at convenience stores up and down the land.
ssireum a Korean wrestling style inevitably compared to sumo, but far closer in form to Mongolian or Greco-Roman styles.
STO Seoul Tourism Organization.
taekwondo Korean martial art, now practised around the world.
tap pagoda.
tongil unification, a highly important concept on the divided Korean peninsula.
trot a very distinctive style of Korean music much favoured by older generations.
woeguk-in foreigner; pronounced “way-goog-in”. Woeguk-saram is also used.
yangban the scholarly “upper class” in Joseon-era Korea.
yeogwan Korean form of accommodation, similar to a motel but privately run and almost always older.
yeoinsuk Korean form of accommodation, similar to a yeogwan but with communal toilets and showers.