While motor sport fans are gearing up for this weekend’s 2012 Formula 1 Korean Grand Prix, we’ve been doing a little digging on the country which is also home to Psy Oppa of Gangnam Style fame.
We’re thinking that if we didn’t know about these lesser known facts about the country and its culture, the chances are you didn’t either…
1) When Korean families visit the graves of their late loved ones, they sometimes leave an offering of rice with chopsticks stuck in the centre. This means that popping your chopsticks into your rice in a restaurant and leaving them there is a big no-no. Apparently, if you do this, you are behaving as if you’re in a graveyard and will certainly cause offence.
2) K-Pop (or Korean pop music) has been around for quite some time but, thanks to Gangnam Style, has become trendy on the international scene again. Gangnam is actually a posh district of Seoul in South Korea.
3) North Korea is one of the world’s largest fresh fruit producers – it’s the 10th largest global producer of apples, peaches, nectarines and pears, to be exact, and also comes close for vegetable production, ranking 12th.
4) The currencies of Korea are the North Korean Won and the South Korean Won and are almost certainly cheaper from MyTravelMoney.co.uk which compares live rates on a daily basis.
5) Koreans often keep charred logs of wood in their fridges as they’re said to keep the fridge smelling fresh.
6) Many fast food restaurants in Korea are open 24 hours.
7) There are no limits as to where you can drink alcohol in public in Korea. Drinking is allowed everywhere although seldom abused.
8) Some of the most famous brands in the world, including Hyundai and Samsung, are based in Korea.
9) South Korea is home to some of the largest shopping malls in the world, with many of them supersizing average European towns.
10) The border between North and Sound Korea is one of the most fiercely guarded borders in the world – with a strong military presence. It came about after North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950 in a bid to unify the country under communist rule. The UN stepped in, resulting in the 1953 ceasefire, and efforts to reunify the country are ongoing.
