Korean Job Discussion Forums

[atwood]

[Weigookin74]

[Weigookin74]

Speaking of tourism, I just noticed something new. Are the new road signs in your town being changed? They have the street names in Korean and the Roman Alphabet. But, the directions to places are only written in Korean whereas the previous versions were written in English and Korean. For example, Shi Cheong, Do Cheong, etc written in Hanguel but no English beside it anymore. I can understand it, but some foriegn toursits renting a car might have difficulty with this.

Don't know if it's an oversight or a new type of suttle nationalism by the generation taking over. "We're Korea; we only speak Korean here."

[Yaya]

Korea's in denial about tourism here. There's really nothing here outside of a few Buddhist places and historical sites (e.g., DMZ) that attract people. K-pop and hallyu have a limited shelf life (J-pop was popular in the region for a time but no longer), and well, I think "Gangnam Style" is one of the most bizarre hits in a long time but will eventually wane with no new K-pop song to take its place.

Beaches? Haeundae and Gwangalli hardly impress.

Historical sites? As many mentioned earlier, many such venues aren't foreigner friendly and China and Japan can be considered superior in that aspect. I remember a Chinese American whom I took to Gyeongbuk Palace not being impressed by seeing the museum inside (they all looked like stuff in China, and that was a eureka moment for me, but I digress).

Nightlife? Seoul has its spots but lots of places are so overpriced and such, though I would give a bit of props to the city's nightlife.

Food is an area where Korea can do well given the rising popularity of Korean cuisine abroad, but the government seems to want to promote it its own way and...

I hear Japan has better places for skiing, hot springs and a host of other activities.

Medical tourism? Sorry, but Thailand is far advanced in that respect.

I remember reading somewhere or hearing from someone that perhaps the government should focus on what foreign tourists are interested in instead of deciding for itself what it wants foreign tourists to be interested in. I don't see that happening for a long time, though.

[atwood]

[optik404]

Domestically, Hallyu/Kpop is slowly dying, but internationally (Asia), Kpop seems like it's more popular than ever. When I was taking Korean lessons at Yonsei in 2008, all my female classmates said they came to learn because of kpop or a drama they saw.

A friend of mine that is at Yonsei now learning Korean told me the same thing. All his female classmates came because they like kpop. I don't see Hallyu dying out anytime soon overseas.

[edwardcatflap]

It's amazing how many rich parents there are out there willing to spend a fortune on their daughter's useless foreign education. I also meet a ton of them wanting to do masters in the UK in very little chance of a return on your huge investment subjects like fashion/design/art/sculpture etc...all bankrolled by Daddy presumably.

[Yaya]

[Fox]