r/Living_in_Korea

I was physically and sexually assaulted by a Korean family member. I am an American and has reached out to the embassy as well. There is now an ongoing investigation and have been to hospital and spent all day with police. but I’m struggling to find interpretation help and other support. I feel extremely unsupported and alone by my family who is telling me to consider settling so he does community service instead of jail time. I have physical injuries so it’s hard for me to even type. Please help .

Anybody knows when will chipotle open ?

I’m the only foreign woman in my Korean company and I think I’m being pushed out.

I joined this company last year . Back then the team was completely different, but everyone eventually quit and now there’s a new team and new boss. All of them are Korean men, and I’m the only foreigner and only woman left.

My team leader barely talks to me. He doesn’t greet me, doesn’t say goodbye, and often acts like I don’t exist. The biggest issue is that he started giving all of my original responsibilities to a new male employee, even when I ask for work directly. At this point I barely have anything to do anymore.

What makes this worse is that apparently two women before me already quit because of him. So I don’t think this is just “in my head.”

I honestly feel isolated and pushed out of the team. I’ve been in Korea for 7 years already, so this isn’t just culture shock or being new to Korea.
I can’t freely leave this company either because they sponsor my visa. The CEO likes me, but my team lead is such an a-hole. Everyday at work I just sit there, doing nothing. At this point I feel like he is silently wants me to quit, therefore he is pushing to that point by bullying me. He also clearly thinks I’m stupid, based on how he speaks to me.
This is drastically different from my last team lead, who praised me all the time, even to CEO, calling me “the Brain” of our department.

Sitting and doing nothing kills me, because I wanna grow, I wanna learn, I wanna evolve and I wanna do something in this company. Now I feel like I am waiting my youth and potential. I feel like I am one stupid person who is not liked by anyone.

I’m thinking about talking to HR, but I’m scared they’ll tell my team leader directly and the atmosphere will become even more uncomfortable. I also honestly suspect there may be sexism involved.

Has anyone experienced something similar in a Korean company?
Did talking to HR help, or did it make things worse?
What would you do in my situation?

Could be cultural misunderstandings, daily life stuff, language mistakes, anything 😂

For me, I used to think everyone at Korean restaurants was related because all the customers kept calling the staff “imo(이모/aunt)”😭
And once I called my professor “jeogiyo(저기요)” because I thought it just meant “excuse me” in Korean…

I took it home for the weekend and there's a line in here that ... depending on the interpretation could go either way.

"(이름)은 출근 요일과 공휴일이 중복되는 경우 전후 요일로 출근해야 한다."

Now, quickly glancing at it, I didn't think much of it, but on a second read through: Do they expect me to come into work on the weekend if there's a holiday during the work week?

TL;DR: Starbucks Korea ran a "Tank Day" tumbler promotion on the memorial day of a tragic 1980 democratic uprising (where military tanks were used to crush civilians).

They also used a slogan referencing a notorious 1987 police torture cover-up.

The backlash was nuclear, the South Korean President publicly condemned them, and the Shinsegae Group Chairman fired the Starbucks Korea CEO on the exact same day.

​

The Background (Context for Non-Koreans)

To understand how bad this is, you need to know about May 18th (5.18). On May 18, 1980, the military dictatorship in South Korea sent paratroopers and tanks into the city of Gwangju to violently crush a pro-democracy movement. Hundreds of civilians were killed.

It is one of the most solemn and politically sensitive memorial days in the country.

​The Incident

On May 18, 2026, Starbucks Korea (which is locally operated by the retail giant Shinsegae/Emart) launched a promotion for their new "Tank" tumbler series.

They proudly displayed the date "5/18" right next to the slogan "Tank Day".

If that wasn't enough, they added another slogan: "Thwack on the desk!"

This is a highly offensive reference to a notorious 1987 incident where the police tortured a student activist to death and tried to cover it up by claiming they just "slapped the desk with a thwack, and he died of a heart attack."

​The Fallout

The internet exploded. People couldn't believe a massive global brand could have zero internal screening to prevent combining two of the darkest moments in Korean modern history into a tumbler ad.

​Living right here in Gwangju, I can tell you the mood is absolutely furious.

The Gwangju Mayor instantly banned the use of Starbucks gift cards at any city-hosted events.

Furthermore, President Lee Jae Myung took to Twitter (X) to condemn Starbucks, calling it "inhumane, bottom-feeding behavior" that mocked the blood-soaked struggle of democracy activists.

​The Corporate Panic & Current Drama

As someone who actively tracks the stock market, watching this unfold was a textbook example of a catastrophic ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) nightmare.

Shinsegae Group's Chairman, Chung Yong-jin, went into pure panic mode.

Fearing a massive nationwide boycott and a crash in Emart's stock, he fired the Starbucks Korea CEO (Son Jung-hyun) effectively immediately.

​Now, the situation has turned into a bizarre political battlefield.

Far-right trolls are visiting Starbucks stores en masse to "own the libs" and are generating AI images of the 1980 military dictator drinking out of the controversial Tank Tumbler.

​Corporate PR disasters don't get much worse than this.

Has there ever been a marketing blunder in your country that got a CEO fired on the very same day?

Hi! I’m having a business trip to Yeouido, Seoul with my colleagues.
I was born in Seoul and my colleagues are middle aged American men. This is their first time to visiting Korea.
We are going to check in a hotel in Yeouido Sunday afternoon. So, I was thinking that chicken and beer would be good for dinner.
I also thought visiting 광화문 and having 한정식 but it might be too much for us because of let lag.

where do foreigners usually stay for long term? i have heard bad stories about hostels, and i would like a private bathroom. air bnbs are expensive as hell, so i wouldnt bother

23F looking for a place around Seoul to stay that's affordable. More specifically looking to share with someone who's open to it as sheesh the housing here is pricey!

Background:

Foreigner studying at the Yonsei KLI starting in June.

Keep to myself, quiet and clean. I'm not big on confrontation so I try my best to not disrupt or step on toes.

I can cook and clean! I just need somewhere with a bed, a desk, decent bathroom and working kitchen, but somewhere I'll also be able to call home for the next year or so.

I speak English fluently.

I'm not a partier so you don't have to worry about me coming home drunk and loud, instead I'd probably be in my room with a book and some tea! Super introverted but I come outta my shell once I know you!

Please help a girl out 🙏🏼

My driver's license will expire next year so I thought to change it now to a Korean one.

I got my license in Italy and on internet it says I need to take just a 20 questions exam. Is it true? And if it is, where do I exercise and study?

Also, does the korean license expire with the Italian one? Or will i be able to renew it here in korea without any problems?

I also heard that you need to renew it every year? And korean people every 10 is it true?

Thank you in advance ☺️

I’ll be in South Korea for about 6 months for an internship. I’ll be based in Incheon. I’m terrified of going mostly because of the language barrier, Hangul just seems like a daunting prospect for me! I also genuinely have no idea of what to expect, no matter how many vlogs I watch, I just don’t feel prepared at all.
I know I’m being emotional and should be open to moving but I’m just struggling to shake off my fears.

Has anyone noticed medical staff here sometimes say inappropriate things that they wouldnt say back home?

Kind of a funny story, went in for a fertility check up so the doctor had to inspect my junk and as I show him the goods he says “oh you have foreigner size” 😂 It was so unexpected that I didnt even laugh until later when I told my wife what happened.

Has anyone been contacted via phone for a survey on foreigners living in Korea?

I received a phone call in the evening from a lady who says she wanted to visit my home for an interview. This call came at 8PM on a Friday. I find that very odd. Since I knew nothing about it, I asked her to send me a weblink to the survery. Rather than a link, she texted me pictures of the actual survey (attached photos except first one). She also sent me her government ID that had her name and photo. I googled her cell number and it appears on a church website with her name and photo, but it's difficult to determine if that website photo matches the ID.

The fact that she called me after 6PM on a Friday made me suspicious because I'm unable to verify her identity with the Ministry of Justice until Tuesday (Monday is a holiday).

Also, the literature in the pamphlet stated the following: "As you have already been informed by the 'Letter of Request for Cooperation,' you have been selected as one of the participants for this survey." I did not receive anything in the mail about this survey, so I became more suspicious. I called Korea Immigration (1345; open unitl 10PM weekdays) and asked them about it. The rep knew nothing and suggested to contact the police.

Below is the website I found that mentions this survey (see first photo). The website does mention that it's a door-to-door survey from May 19 to June 2, but shouldn't they send something in the mail beforehand? https://www.moj.go.kr/bbs/moj/184/606564/artclView.do

I found a similar post on reddit a few years back: https://www.reddit.com/r/Living_in_Korea/comments/13oen25/2023_survey_on_immigrants_living_conditions_and/

Any thoughts? Is this person impersonating a government employee?

Website

https://preview.redd.it/vylpl89qap2h1.jpg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d1b75e47298d576e390c50bdb0d6eea95eef41a

https://preview.redd.it/m4baw89qap2h1.jpg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5371a8183dea64ecb5c7fbb827f6f58ca48325bf

https://preview.redd.it/07zg199qap2h1.jpg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f0ce562ddbd3cc1f466502c854788ad25683b16a

https://preview.redd.it/gv9z489qap2h1.jpg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a1578ff9a27faf7f2d89381a54cbc08cfe01fe5c

I redacted her photo and name