The Most Fascinating Facts About South Korea

Officially known as the Republic of Korea, South Korea is an East Asian country with a predominantly mountainous terrain. It has a population of approximately 51.4 million residents (2017 estimate) and a total area of 100,210 km2. Seoul is the capital of South Korea. A unitary presidential constitutional republic is the type of government practiced in South Korea. The official languages in South Korea are Korean and Korean Sign Language. The Korean currency is the South Korean Won ₩ (KRW). The following facts about South Korea will leave you wowed. 

1. South Korea has the highest rate of plastic surgery per capita. The most popular plastic surgeries done in South Korea are: liposuction, nose jobs, and blepharoplasty. Greece, Italy, Brazil, Columbia, USA and Taiwan respectively are next on the list.

2. South Korea has made military service mandatory (conscription) for its male citizens in the 18 to 35 year old range. They are required to serve for 21 to 24 months depending on the branch of the military they join - 24 months for those joining the air force or special services, 23 months for the navy, and 21 months for those joining the army or marines.

Men with physical disabilities or with unstable or questionable mental states are granted exemptions. Healthy men must serve in the military or face imprisonment. Women can enlist themselves for military service if they wish - it is not mandatory for them.

3. South Korea is one of the world's beauty capitals, being the world's sixth-largest exporter of cosmetics. The country's beauty industry is worth more than $10 billion. South Korea's international sales of cosmetics quadrupled between 2009 and 2015. Moreover, men in South Korea spend on skincare per person more than anywhere else in the world. Approximately 20% of the male Korean population reportedly use makeup on a regular basis.

4. South Korea has the fastest internet speed in the world - an average speed of 28.6 Mb/s. South Korea's internet speed is four times faster than the world average of 7.0 Mb/s. It also has the best 4G availability in the world. In Korea, users are able to expect a signal 95.71% of the time. South Korea also has an average upload speed of 17 MB/s.

5. South Korea is home to the world's fifth-largest city - Seoul - with a population of 25.6 million inhabitants (2017).

6. South Korea has one of the world's best airports - Incheon International Airport. Incheon International Airport was named the best airport in the world at the Airport Service Quality Awards for 12 consecutive years - 2005 to 2017.

7. Taekwondo - a type of martial art - originated in South Korea. Choi Hong Hi is the founder of taekwondo. Taekwondo is made up of three Korean words: Tae, meaning to jump or kick; Kwon, meaning fist; and Do, meaning "the way". Taekwondo is the most popular sport in South Korea.

8. South Korea is the breakdancing (also known as b-boying/b-girling) capital of the world. Breakdancing was introduced to South Korea by American soldiers after it got very popular in the 1980s. Since the winning of the international b-boying competition Battle of the Year - by Korea's Expression Crew - in 2002, the South Korean government has promoted breakdancing, which is ow a prominent part of the country's culture. 

9. An unmarried person is called a "Big Baby" in Korean slang. Marriage is associated with maturity in South Korea. As such, only few Koreans choose not to marry.

10. South Korea is the country with the third highest estimated national IQ in the world - with an average IQ of 106. The country with the highest average IQ is Hong Kong (with an average IQ of 108).

11. PDA (Public Display of Affection) is common in South Korea among people of the same-sex. It is referred to as "skinship". Skinship is practically about pals of the same sex touching each other nonstop as a way of instilling platonic bonding (totally non-sexual).

In South Korea, it is common to see boys constantly holding hands, rubbing one another's back, feeling each other, or sitting on each other's thighs - both inner and outer. They consider these to be basic expressions of friendliness.

12. In Korea, according to a law passed in 1999, all online banking and shopping should be done using Internet Explorer. The mandatory use of Internet Explorer for online shopping and banking is seen as a hindrance and inconvenience by most uses as Internet Explorer has a reputation for bugging and crashing. Microsoft however claims that version 11 of Internet Explorer has been greatly improved and beats other browsers in terms of speed by about 30%.

13. Koreans are obsessed with poop, or at least poop shapes. There is an entire museum in Seoul -Poopoo Land - dedicated to poop. There are many other poop-centric attractions in South Korea - such as Ddo-Ong Café, Mr. Toilet House etc.

In Poopoo Land, visitors can partake in a poopoo obstacle course, or enjoy its intestine-shaped swirly slide, or any of the many fascinating options made ready for visitors to delve deep in the world of fecal matter. This obsession with excrement is due to a popular Korean superstitious association of poop to wealth and good fortune. 

14. Elderly ladies in South Korea - known as "Ajummas" tend to bully younger people on the streets, metro, and other public places and get away with this maltreatment. This is because the elderly must be respected in South Korea, be they wrong or right. Ajummas take advantage of this cultural norm to "slush" people on the subway, spit or yell at others, or push people out of their way. Never fight an Ajumma for a seat aboard public transport.

The fierce Ajumma spirit was developed during South Korea's transition from a developing to a developed country. These ladies had to become tigresses when they left their homes in order to battle with the scary and competitive fight-or-die world.