Culture

King Sejong the Great created Hangeul in 1443 so that ordinary people could read and write easily.

Hangeul was first called Hunminjeongeum — 'the proper sounds to teach the people'.

• 한글은 세종대왕이 백성들이 쉽게 읽고 쓸 수 있도록 만든 문자입니다. 한글의 옛 이름은 무엇입니까?Hangeul is the writing King Sejong created so that the people could read and write easily. What was the old name of Hangeul?

Hangeul was created in 1443 by King Sejong so that ordinary people could read and write.

• 한국인이 사용하는 대표적인 고유 문자는 무엇입니까?What is the main writing system Koreans use?

Seollal is Lunar New Year. Families gather, bow to elders and eat tteokguk.

• 새해에 세배하고 떡국을 먹는 명절은 무엇입니까?Which holiday is it when people bow to elders and eat tteokguk for the new year?

Chuseok is the autumn harvest thanksgiving. It falls on the full moon of the eighth lunar month.

• 송편을 먹고 성묘하는 가을 명절은 무엇입니까?Which autumn holiday involves eating songpyeon and visiting ancestral graves?

Tteokguk is a soup of thin white rice-cake slices. Eating a bowl means you have turned a year older.

• 새해에 한 살 더 먹는다는 의미로 먹는 음식은 무엇입니까?Which food is eaten to mark turning a year older in the new year?

Songpyeon is steamed over pine needles, which is where the name comes from (song = pine).

• 반달 모양으로 빚어 먹는 추석 음식은 무엇입니까?Which Chuseok food is shaped like a half-moon?

Sebae is the deep new-year bow. Elders return it with a word of blessing.

• 새해에 어른에게 절하고 덕담을 듣는 것을 무엇이라고 합니까?What is it called when you bow to elders and receive words of blessing in the new year?

Sebaetdon literally means "sebae money" — the reward for the bow.

• 세배 후에 받는 용돈을 무엇이라고 합니까?What is the pocket money received after sebae called?

Yut nori is played with four wooden sticks; how they land decides how far your piece moves.

• 윷가락 네 개를 던져 말을 움직이는 놀이는 무엇입니까?Which game moves pieces by throwing four wooden sticks?

Ssireum is Korean wrestling. Each grips the other's satba, a cloth belt around waist and thigh.

• 추석 등 명절에 즐기던 전통 격투 경기는 무엇입니까?Which traditional grappling contest was enjoyed on holidays such as Chuseok?

Hanbok has no tight seams; it drapes in curves and straight lines rather than following the body.

• 명절이나 전통 행사 때 입는 한국 고유 옷은 무엇입니까?What is the Korean clothing worn for holidays and traditional ceremonies?

A hanok is built of wood, earth and paper, and is sited to face south with a hill behind.

• 기와·마루·온돌 구조로 대표되는 전통 집은 무엇입니까?Which traditional house is known for its tiled roof, maru floor and ondol heating?

Smoke from the kitchen fire runs through flues under the floor, so the floor itself becomes the heater.

• 방바닥 아래를 데워 난방하는 전통 방식은 무엇입니까?Which traditional method heats a room by warming the space under the floor?

Kimchi is salted, seasoned and left to ferment. It appears at nearly every Korean meal.

• 한국 식탁의 대표 발효 반찬은 무엇입니까?What is the representative fermented side dish on a Korean table?

Gimjang is on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage — for the sharing, not the recipe.

• 가족·이웃이 모여 김치를 대량으로 담그는 전통은 무엇입니까?What is the tradition of family and neighbours gathering to make kimchi in bulk?

Boiled soybeans are pressed into blocks (meju), dried, then aged in brine. Doenjang and soy sauce come from the same jar.

• 된장찌개에 사용하는 발효 콩 장은 무엇입니까?Which fermented soybean paste is used in doenjang-jjigae?

Gochujang is fermented from chilli powder, glutinous rice and malt. It is sweet as well as hot.

• 비빔밥 등에 사용하는 빨간 발효 양념장은 무엇입니까?Which red fermented sauce is used in dishes such as bibimbap?

Dano marks the start of summer. People swing on swings, wrestle ssireum and wash their hair in iris water.

Lotus lanterns are hung at temples for weeks beforehand. It is a public holiday in Korea.

Christmas is a public holiday in Korea — one of the few religious holidays on the solar calendar.

Sinjeong means "new new-year". Korea keeps both: 1 January and Seollal.

Bulgogi means "fire meat". Thin beef is marinated in soy sauce, pear and sesame oil, then grilled.

• 간장 양념한 고기를 구워 먹는 한국 요리는 무엇입니까?Which Korean dish is beef marinated in soy sauce and grilled?

Bibimbap means "mixed rice". You stir everything together before eating — that is the point.

• 전주가 특히 유명한 한국의 비벼 먹는 밥 요리는 무엇입니까?Which mixed-rice dish is Jeonju especially famous for?

A whole young chicken is stuffed with rice, ginseng, garlic and jujube, then simmered.

• 복날에 많이 먹는 닭 보양식은 무엇입니까?Which chicken dish is eaten most on the hottest days (boknal)?

The noodles are made from sweet-potato starch, which is why they stay springy and clear.

• 명절이나 잔칫상에 자주 올라오는 당면 요리는 무엇입니까?Which glass-noodle dish often appears at holidays and feasts?

It is the first full moon of the year. People climb hills to see the moon rise and make a wish.

• 오곡밥과 부럼을 먹는 날은 무엇입니까?On which day do people eat ogokbap and crack bureom nuts?

Five grains — rice, millet, sorghum, beans and glutinous rice — for a year of good harvests.

• 여러 곡식을 섞어 대보름에 먹는 밥은 무엇입니까?Which rice, made of several grains, is eaten at Daeboreum?

Cracking bureom was believed to keep boils and skin trouble away for the year.

• 대보름에 견과류를 깨물며 건강을 비는 풍습은 무엇입니까?Which Daeboreum custom involves cracking nuts to wish for health?

The dol marks one full year of life. In the past, surviving the first year was itself worth celebrating.

• 한국에서 첫 번째 생일을 부르는 말은 무엇입니까?What is the Korean word for a first birthday?

Thread means long life, money means wealth, a brush means learning. The child chooses one.

• 아기의 미래를 점치는 의미로 첫돌에 하는 행사는 무엇입니까?Which first-birthday event is meant to foretell a child's future?

Hwangap means "returning of the year" — the sixty-year cycle of the zodiac has come full circle.

• 육십갑자가 한 바퀴 돌아오는 나이를 기념하는 것을 무엇이라고 합니까?What is the celebration of the age at which the sixty-year cycle returns called?

Both are sticky, and the Korean verb for passing an exam is the same as for sticking fast.

Seaweed is rich in iodine and iron. Koreans also eat it on their birthday, remembering their mother.

The everyday names simply say where each gate stands: east, west, south, north.

The old names each carry a Confucian virtue. Sungnyemun (Namdaemun) is National Treasure No. 1.

Taekwondo means "the way of foot and fist". It became an official Olympic sport at Sydney 2000.

• 발차기로 유명한 한국의 대표 무술은 무엇입니까?Which Korean martial art is known for its kicks?

One voice, one drum, and up to eight hours of story. UNESCO lists it as intangible heritage.

• 춘향가·심청가 같은 작품이 있는 전통 성악은 무엇입니까?Which traditional vocal art includes works such as Chunhyangga and Simcheongga?

Arirang is a song of parting. Nearly every region has its own version.

• 지역별로 다양한 형태가 전해지는 대표 한국 민요는 무엇입니까?Which Korean folk song exists in many regional versions?

Behind a mask, a commoner could mock a nobleman without being punished for it.

• 탈을 쓰고 풍자적인 공연을 하는 전통 예술은 무엇입니까?Which traditional art uses masks for satirical performance?

Women joined hands and circled under the full moon, singing as they went.

• 전남 지역에서 특히 유명한 원무 형태의 전통놀이는 무엇입니까?Which circle dance is especially known in the Jeonnam region?

Built in 1395, three years after Joseon was founded. Its name means "palace of shining fortune".

• 광화문 뒤에 있는 서울의 대표 조선 궁궐은 무엇입니까?Which Joseon palace stands behind Gwanghwamun in Seoul?

It was listed because it was built to follow the shape of the land rather than flatten it.

• 후원으로 유명한 서울의 조선 궁궐은 무엇입니까?Which Joseon palace in Seoul is famous for its rear garden (huwon)?

It is National Treasure No. 1. It burned in a 2008 arson and was rebuilt over five years.

• 남대문이라고도 부르는 조선 시대 성문은 무엇입니까?Which Joseon city gate is also called Namdaemun?

It is the only Seoul gate with a curved outer wall (ongseong) wrapped around it, because the ground there is low.

• 동대문이라고도 부르는 조선 시대 성문은 무엇입니까?Which Joseon city gate is also called Dongdaemun?

A single long hall, deliberately plain. Its restraint is what makes it a World Heritage site.

• 종묘제례가 열리는 서울의 왕실 사당은 무엇입니까?Which royal shrine in Seoul hosts the Jongmyo Jerye rite?

Built in 751. The stone terraces it stands on are the original eighth-century work.

• 석굴암과 함께 세계유산으로 등재된 경주의 절은 무엇입니까?Which Gyeongju temple is a World Heritage site together with Seokguram?

It is not carved into rock — it was built from cut granite blocks and then buried under earth.

• 본존불로 유명한 유네스코 세계유산 석굴은 무엇입니까?Which UNESCO World Heritage grotto is famous for its main Buddha statue?

The storage halls have no machinery — slatted windows of different sizes keep the air moving on their own.

• 경상남도 합천 가야산에 있는 유명 사찰은 무엇입니까?Which famous temple stands on Mount Gaya in Hapcheon, South Gyeongsang?

Jeong Yak-yong designed it and invented a crane (geojunggi) to lift the stones, cutting years off the work.

• 유네스코 세계유산으로 등재된 수원의 조선 시대 성곽은 무엇입니까?Which Joseon-era fortress in Suwon is a UNESCO World Heritage site?

Korea's only natural World Heritage site. All three parts were made by the same volcano.

• 제주의 대표 유네스코 세계자연유산은 무엇입니까?What is Jeju's representative UNESCO natural World Heritage site?

The colour comes from iron in the glaze fired without oxygen. Goryeo potters also invented inlaid celadon.

Joseon chose plain white over Goryeo's green — the Confucian taste was for restraint.

Forty tombs across eighteen locations, all still intact after six hundred years.

Its rediscovery in 1940 proved Hangul was invented by design, not copied from another script.

Four instruments only: kkwaenggwari, jing, janggu and buk. Created in 1978 from outdoor farmers’ music.

Twelve silk strings over a paulownia body. It is played resting on the lap, plucked with bare fingers.

The two heads sound different: one side is struck with a stick, the other with the palm.

Villages played it to divine the harvest — the winning side was said to get a good year.

Women swung on swings, men wrestled ssireum — the two Dano games, one for each.

Korean changes its verb endings by whom you address. Using plain speech to an elder is heard as rude.

The prefix si- marks the husband's side of the family.

Siabeonim and sieomeonim always come as a pair — both take the si- prefix.

The wife's side uses jang-, not si-. The two sides have different words.

Jangin and jangmo pair up, just as siabeoji and sieomeoni do on the other side.

One word covers both nephew and niece; a niece may also be called jokhattal.

Sachon literally means "four degrees" — the kinship distance counted in chon.

It goes in a white envelope with your name on the back, handed in at the reception desk.

The envelope is white too, but the wording differs — never reuse a wedding envelope.

Guests traditionally bring detergent or tissue — bubbles and length both mean prosperity.

You eat what your mother ate after giving birth to you. The birthday remembers her too.

Long noodles mean a long life and a long marriage. Asking "when will I eat your noodles?" means "when do you marry?"

The school year runs March to February, so a Korean first-grader starts in early spring.

Black suit, white shirt, no bright accessories. Traditional mourning clothes were undyed hemp.

Because the floor is heated and people sit and sleep on it, it is kept as clean as a table.

Seats near the doors are reserved for them by law and are usually left empty even when the car is full.

A hundred rice cakes are shared with a hundred people, wishing the child a hundred years.

Families pull the weeds, bow twice and pour a cup of drink for the ancestor.

Chon counts the steps of kinship. Parent to child is one step — the closest there is.

Sibling to sibling goes up to the parent and back down — one step each way, so two.

Parents' Day is 8 May. Children pin a red carnation on their parents' chest.

Taekwondo became an official Olympic event at Sydney 2000, having been a demonstration sport before.

• 손과 발을 사용하는 한국의 전통 무예이자 대한민국을 대표하는 스포츠는 무엇입니까?Which sport is a traditional Korean martial art using hands and feet and represents the Republic of Korea?

The 2018 Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province.

Pyeongchang is in Gangwon. It bid three times before winning the games.

• 2018 평창 동계올림픽의 개최지는 어디입니까?Where were the 2018 Winter Olympics held?