Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Heli Mike]

I'm moving to SK in a couple weeks from the US and I am interested in learning about some of the differences in laws. Been doing some research online and can not find a good list of "Laws you need to know before moving to Korea"

Anything you all can help me with?

[Quack Addict]

Try the law of common sense. Follow it and you should be fine.

[Heli Mike]

Yea, that adds to this discussion...

[nathanrutledge]

What laws are you planning to break? They don't like pedophiles here, fyi. Murder isn't kosher. I'm not sure on the whole car jacking thing, traffic is pretty hard to make a clean getaway, but I think that's still a no-no.

Seriously, common sense. If you are concerned that something you do in the US is going to be a crime here, then you probably have bigger issues to deal with.

[catman]

Can't take your shirt off in public. Not sure about pants.

[8 years down]

I'm not 100% sure about this but I don't think there are any laws here.

[ED209]

Don't get drunk in public.
Don't run a red light.
Don't hit your wife in public.
Don't visit hookers younger than your daughter.


...unless you've past your 40's and have major insecurity problems.

[northway]

Don't fall asleep in a gutter while wearing a business suit.

[nathanrutledge]

[laguna]

They have laws, they just don't enforce them

[Howler Monkey]

If you go to a bar and a native son of han starts a major barney with you, take it lying down. Because if you give him a good thrashing like he so richly deserves for his cheek you'll be the one ponying up the fivers for his bruised ego and loss of face.

[Joe Boxer]

[northway]

Here's another useful one: don't touch drugs of any kind unless you want to be spending a few years sharing a closet sized room with about five other dudes. Unlike the West, they backtrack from dealers here.

Not jaywalking or dropping butts in front of cops is also advisable, depending on where you are. There are a lot of bored policemen in Gyeonggi looking to get some funds for the local department.

[akcrono]

If you're new to dave's, this is a standard thread:
Question asked
first 3-4 posts are usless
thread gets bumped
people start contributing

As you can see, this thread follows the formula pretty well. Welcome to Dave's.


P.S. Many Korean laws are the similar to the US. The difference is a lot of the minor laws (traffic laws, drinking in public) arent enforced. Other transgressions are considered more serious then they are in the US (stealing and drugs get jailtime). Check your prescriptions before you leave, a few, such as Adderal, are illegal.

[djsmnc]

Don't tap women's shoulders to get their attention, put your arm on them like you would back home when explaining something "Oh, hey, I finished that...!" kiss or hug them as a greeting like you would after not seeing a girl you know for awhile back home. Koreans rarely even hug or kiss their own family members. They are cold and awkward and act as if they will be stricken with a curse if anyone else touches them outside of a relationship, which has been the one thing tht always frustrated me here. If you're going to touch a member of the opposite sex (if you are male), you might as well just whip your piece out because even if they don't say something to you at the time, guaranteed they'll talk about the pervert foreigner later.

On the other hand, if it's a member of the same gender and you are familiar, you can do practically anything short of anal or a BJ. Not that you'd want to, but after seeing naked men massage each other in a public bath, it becomes apparent that there is little reluctance in this department.

If you are male and a female puts her hands on you, though, it's cool. That's the weird part. Then if you interpret it the wrong way, though, she'll be talking about the pervert foreigner later. It can be a headache. I wish I had just never learned that part of Korean culture so I could just play the ignorant foreigner part.