Korean Job Discussion Forums

mayorgc · Joined: 19 Oct 2008

i'm getting conflicting messages here.

are koreans on the average, tall?

or are they short?

i'm hearing that

avg male = 6' ????
avg female = 5'7" ???

never been to korea, but i assumed they were shorter than that

Pooty · Joined: 15 Jun 2008 Location: Ela stin agalia mou

I'm 6 feet tall and I'm the shortest guy in my company. Very Happy

alex83 · Joined: 03 May 2007

I don't have any actual stats, but, average male 6 FEET?? No chance.
I think the average white guy is 5'10".
The new generation is getting taller, that's for sure...but I'm 6'1" and taller than the vast majority of 20-something/30-something Korean males.

RJjr · Joined: 17 Aug 2006 Location: Turning on a Lamp

There seems to be a stereotype that they're short, but they're not. They're every bit as tall, on the average, as Westerners. Although it could be an optical illusion from high heels and Korean women being a lot thinner than American women, I think Korean women are probably an inch or two taller than American women on the average.

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

How tall are you? If you're over 6', I'd say you're taller than the average, but you'll see a few Koreans above 6'.

The younger ones are definitely getting taller. You'll see a lot of the MS and HS boys, and girls, approaching 6', maybe 20%ish. Average, i'd say the Kids around 5'10" for boys and 5'7" for girls. The older generation born pre-1980ish are short and probably average around 5'5".

mayorgc · Joined: 19 Oct 2008

I'm a 5'7 chinese male

am i gonna feel like a midget when i get over there???

Underwaterbob · Joined: 08 Jan 2005 Location: In Cognito

I'm 6'5" and have never met a Korean taller than me.

EzeWong · Joined: 26 Mar 2008 Location: Seoul

the_beaver · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

ciccone_youth · Joined: 03 Mar 2008 Location: Japan

They are definitely tall/average, I was surprised.

I'm a 5'5 girl, and I'm definitely not the tallest among other girls. Even some of my Grade 6 students are my height.

jvalmer · Joined: 06 Jun 2003

One thing I've noticed is that a lot of the asians that grew up in America pre-90's tend to be shorter than the ones who grew up in Asia. My guess is that their parents probably had to work insane hours and as a result, their nutritional food intake suffered as a result. Whereas in Asia, the little dragon countries, moms stayed home and kept their kids well fed.

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

There are tall Koreans (not extraordinarily tall but they look tall by comparison), but there is still a wide gulf between the tall and short. It's a generational thing; today's 20-somethings are giants compared to today's 50-somethings, and today's teenagers are going to grow up and dwarf the 20-somethings.

These days, I've been meeting a ton of Americans who are visibly shorter than the average Korean. I'm starting to wonder what's going wrong with that country that everyone's shrinking. These 5'2" guys probably come here hoping to finally be the tallest for the first time in their lives, only to find that high school girls dwarf them.

Ukon · Joined: 29 Jan 2008

lol @ race traitor

If we're talking younger people, I'd put the average height at 5 feet 8-9 inches....at 5'11 few are taller than me, but plenty get close to my height.

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Lukychrm42 · Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Cheonan

I'm 5'1 and I get teased for being short. The older generations are definitely shorter in my experience, but most of my coworkers are taller.
Some of the kids look really young, but I have a ten year-old student who is my size.
Sheesh and I thought coming to Korea from Denmark would make me feel less short.