You may notice quite a few homeless people around Seoul Station. A lot of visitors ask me, “Why are there so many homeless people here?” One of the biggest reasons goes back to 1997, during the Asian Financial Crisis. In Korea, we usually call it the IMF Crisis . A lot of companies went bankrupt, unemployment rose very quickly, and many people suddenly lost their jobs and income. Some people eventually lost their homes as well. And many of them came to Seoul Station . Why here? Because this was one of the main places to find day labor and temporary jobs , and it was also the main railway station if they wanted to go back to their hometowns. But some had no money left and nowhere else to go, so they stayed around the station. That is one reason Seoul Station became one of the main gathering places for homeless people after the 1997 crisis. Then another thing happened. Once many homeless people were here, churches, charities, NGOs, and the government started providing help here. Th...
"Annyeong-haseyo" 안녕하세요
Greeting when people first meet
When people meet at the first time, Koreans usually say "Annyeong-haseyo"
This is the same words "hello" or "How are you " in America.
The literal meaning of "Annyeong-haseyo" is Are you well and at peace?
The origin of Korean greetings can be found in the Korean War. At the time people died of hunger or disease every day after waking up overnight. That's why people say hello to make sure they've been well all night long.
There is "Siksa hasyeot-eoyo?" with the same expression. This means literally "have you eaten" or "did you have a meal?", mostly elder people use this expression or we use these words around mealtime or right after.
So people usually respond "yes I have" even if they haven't. This greeting pattern is similar to how English speakers usually respond to the question "how are you" with " Fine" regardless of how they actually feel.
"Annyeonghi gaseyo"
안녕히 가세요
(Greeting when people go back. )
This greeting literally means "I hope you go back safely"
"Annyeong-haseyo" and "Annyeonghi gaseyo" are formal expressions in Korea. There are many different casual words as a greeting such as
jal iss-eossni? 잘 있었니?
jal jinaess-eo? 잘 지냈어?
eotteohge jinaessni? 어떻게 지냈니?
Koreans are just trying to show that they care about you by asking the question.