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A couple of quick highlights -- the martial art of Korea is Tae Kwon Do.
South Korea held the 1988 Summer Olympics.
In hangul, the USA is called Mi-guk.
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Here are a few things according to the Lonely Plant book, "Korea," that I found interesting.
Soccer is called, "chukgu," in hangul, the Korean script.
In Korean, the word for the number four sounds like the word for death, 'sa,' and is therefore an unlucky number. Don't expect to be on the fourth floor of a hotel or a hospital.
A smile may not mean what you think -- apparently in Korea, it can also be a sign of embarrasment. So as they say in Lonely Planet, if you almost get run over by a taxi and the driver smiles at you, apparently he is probably not thinking, "Well, that was funny!"
Tipping is not expected except for at the barber or hair salon.
Blowing your nose in public is considered rude. Really rude.
The Korean Memorial Day (June 6) will be celebrated while the World Cup is being held.
Apparently there is one rule that is very clear -- the one who does the inviting for a meal does the paying. Unlike in the West where you can get into open, loud and sometimes angry-sounding arguments about who pays, this is INCREDIBLY inappropriate behaviour in Korea -- to the point that the person who did the inviting may not be able to visit that establishment again.
Oh, and bring business cards. According to Lonely Planet, if a Korean doesn't know where you fit into the system, he may basically ignore you. Obviously, this is unlikely -- but according to the book, if you run into that problem, introduce yourself with your business card.
Much of this information is from Lonely Planet's "Korea," 5th edition, published by Lonely Planet Publications Pty. Ltd. in 2001. Find their website below.
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Sorry, but I am still working on getting better links. For starters, go with the Official site, where you can pull up the actual sites for the games, etc.
Also, the Lonely Planet link also covers Japan.
The third link takes you back home.
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