1, advanced information technology
In South Korea, Internet users account for 82.7% of the total population, and smartphone users also reach 78.5%. Among the young people aged 65,438+08 to 24, 97.7% are using smart phones. People can not only chat with applications such as Naver Line or Ka Kao on smart phones, but also pay shopping bills, watch real-time TV programs on the subway or scan QR codes (a kind of QR code) in virtual supermarkets.
At the same time, Hyundai plans to launch a car ignited by a smart phone in 20 15; Samsung is designing a mobile phone with flexible screen.
SK, Korea's largest telecommunications company, exhibited many technical products that have come out but have not yet been put into the market in its "Future Science and Technology Museum", which is amazing.
2. The popularity of credit cards
According to the data of Bank of Korea, two years ago (20 1 1), Korea became the largest credit card country in the world. In that year, Americans made an average of 77.9 credit card transactions, Canadians 89.6, and Koreans 129.7.
According to Korean law, no matter how high the transaction amount is, any merchant can't refuse the customer's credit card request, and even taxis are equipped with credit card machines.
It is the free use of credit cards that makes Seoul a world-class shopping capital.
3. Desperate workaholic
Learning is a habit of Koreans. Among more than 30 OECD countries, Koreans have the highest education rate. 98% Koreans have received secondary education and 63% Koreans have received higher education. Even if they work, Koreans can't change their study habits.
In any city in South Korea, you can see that the lights in office buildings or residential buildings will be on late, which means that learners and workaholics are burning the midnight oil!
In 20 12, the data released by the Ministry of Planning and Finance of Korea showed that Koreans had to work an average of 44.6 hours per week, while the average working time in OECD countries was 32.8 hours. It seems that Koreans are really workaholics!
4. Commercial wine culture
Generally speaking, Koreans must be drinking shochu if they are not working. Sometimes it's to celebrate the newly signed contract, and sometimes it's to drown my sorrows in wine.
Although many big companies are trying to control this "work or drink" culture, there are still many bosses who often take their employees out for binge drinking. People who refuse to participate in such activities will be considered "impolite" or "boring".
Korean wine culture can be proved by some figures. For example, last year, Jinro soju, the number one shochu brand in Korea, became the best-selling liquor brand in the world for 1 1 year in a row, and Koreans were the main consumers. True dew sells more than smirnoff vodka, the world's best-selling foreign wine. Last year, the sales volume of this vodka was 37.48 million bottles, ranking second. It seems that Koreans really love drinking!
5. Famous Korean cosmetics
Speaking of cosmetics and skin care products, we have to say that Koreans are always trying all kinds of novel raw materials and methods to make themselves more beautiful. For example, 20 1 1 snail moisturizing cream made of snail viscera is popular, and now Innisfree Jeju Island volcanic mud mask and soybean milk moisturizing cream are popular. VDL is the latest popular cosmetics brand in Korea, and new products are launched every month. Many people are also buying a kind of nail polish with neon hair dye and real petals called "hair shock". It seems that Korean cosmetic products are really novel!
Compared with men from other countries, Korean men are more likely to undergo cosmetic surgery (see point 10 for details). However, they will also snap up some skin care products and even cosmetics. For example, some people will use BB cream as foundation. According to data provided by Euromonitor Information Consulting, a British company specializing in market data and market analysis, South Korea now has the largest male cosmetics market in the world, accounting for a quarter of global consumption.
6. Powerful female golfers
Among the top 100 women's golf players in the world, there are 38 Korean players; There are four Korean players in the front 10. Park Ren-fei, 25, is the world's number one player and the youngest player to win the US Women's Golf Open in history. Lydia Ko, a 4-year-old teenager from June 5438+ 10 this year, also became the youngest female professional golf champion.
Then why is Korean women's golf so powerful? Some people say that it is because Koreans have a strong sense of competition, while others say that it is the result of the cultivation of tiger mothers and tigers (the father of Park Shili, a famous Korean female golfer, is "notorious" for letting his daughter sleep alone in the cemetery to exercise her courage). Whatever the reason, the impressive achievements made by Koreans in this field are worth studying.
Perhaps it is precisely because Koreans have performed so well that the 2008 LPGA Championship in the United States put forward new requirements for players: they must learn to speak English, otherwise they will not be able to participate in the competition. But in any case, the strength of Korean female players is obvious to all.
7. Professional Star Player
In South Korea, starcraft players are a legal profession, and players can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to signing fees.
Since the game 1998 came out, nearly half of its sales have been realized in South Korea. There, adults and children can play StarCraft in the game hall for one night. There are also several cable TV channels dedicated to this game. Its high popularity has made South Korea a test market for StarCraft II.
However, according to the statistics of Korea National Information Institute, such a cultural environment makes nearly 65,438+04% of children aged 9 to 65,438+02 addicted to the Internet. South Korea * * * in order to curb this unhealthy trend, it passed a ban two years ago, prohibiting young children aged 16 and under 16 from playing online games, but people have always ignored the existence of this ban and allowed children to continue to indulge in online games.
8. Advanced flight attendant service
Airlines all over the world will send flight attendants to the training center of Korean Air to learn how to provide better service.
If you have a friend on Korean Air, you can ask him how he feels. I'm sure he will say that Korean Air's service is the best. The flight attendants in this company will always give passengers the sweetest smile. If bibimbap suddenly glows when they serve plane meals, then the desperate expression on their faces is also very cute!
9. Universal blind date link
In Korea, the most frequently asked question by singles is "When is your next blind date?" The standard answer is "I don't want to go again!" The man I saw last time had an Oedipus plot! "or" he has a serious physical defect! " At this time, the other party will immediately say, "God, how can this happen! Do you have any good candidates for me to meet? "
"Blind date" is very common in Korea. Once people decide who they want to see, they will act immediately. Duo is the largest matchmaking agency in Korea, and its statistics show that the average time for single office workers to realize their marriage on their first blind date is 10.2 months, during which there will be an average of 62 dates. Another survey shows that single office workers usually kiss twice a week, which is quite a lot!
10, first-class plastic surgery
Whether your chin is protruding, your forehead is too wide, or your teeth are too long, Korean doctors can meet your requirements as long as you want plastic surgery. People from all over the world who are eager for plastic surgery flock to South Korea through the opportunity of "medical tourism", not only because the plastic surgery technology here is first-class, but also because the price of surgery is very affordable. Kwon Seung-taik, a doctor at Seoul National University Hospital, told the reporter: "It costs about $6,543,800+0,000 (about RMB 60,000) to do an ordinary and not very good cosmetic surgery in the United States. It only costs $2,000 to $3,000 to do the same operation in South Korea. " It seems that Korean plastic surgery is really cheap!