1. Advanced information technology
In South Korea, 82.7 percent of the population are Internet users and 78.5 percent are smartphone users, with 97.7 percent of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 years old using smartphones. People use their smartphones not only to chat on apps such as Naver Line or Kakao Talk, but also to pay shopping bills, watch live TV programs on the subway or scan QR codes at virtual supermarkets.
2. Credit card popularity
South Korea became the world's top credit card country two years ago (2011), according to the Bank of Korea. That year, Americans made an average of 77.9 credit card transactions, Canadians made 89.6, and Koreans made 129.7. According to South Korean law, no merchant can refuse a customer's request for a credit card, regardless of the amount of the transaction, and even cabs are fully equipped with card machines.
3. Desperate Workaholics
Koreans have the highest education rate among the more than 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Ninety-eight percent of Koreans have received secondary education, and 63 percent have received higher education. 2012 data released by the Ministry of Planning and Finance showed that Koreans work an average of 44.6 hours a week, compared to the average of 32.8 hours in OECD countries.
4. Commercial liquor culture
In 2013, for the 11th consecutive year, Zenro Soju, Korea's No. 1 soju brand, was the world's best-selling brand of spirits, of which Koreans are the main consumers. Zenro sold more bottles than the world's top-selling foreign spirit, Smirnoff vodka, which was in second place in 2013 with sales of 37.48 million bottles.
5. Professional StarCraft players
In South Korea, StarCraft players are a legitimate profession, with players earning hundreds of thousands of dollars in addition to signing fees. Such a cultural environment has led to nearly 14 percent of children between the ages of 9 and 12 being addicted to the Internet, according to Korea's National Information Center.
6, common dating
"Blind dates" are very common in South Korea, and statistics from Duo, the country's largest matchmaking company, show that the average time it takes for single office workers to get married from their first "blind date" is 10.2 months, according to the National Information Center. The average time from first "blind date" to couple is 10.2 months, during which time they go on an average of 62 dates.
7, first-class cosmetic surgery
Seung-dae Kwon, a doctor at Seoul National University Hospital, told reporters: "In the United States, it costs about 10,000 U.S. dollars (about 60,000 yuan) for an ordinary, not very good kind of face-lifting surgery. Whereas the same surgery in South Korea costs only 2,000 to 3,000 dollars." Cosmetic surgery is relatively cheaper in South Korea.
People's Daily Online - Top 10 cultural features you should know before traveling to South Korea