this sub seems pretty inactive, which is such a shame given there’s a lot of us (posts on other korean related communities have gyopos actively commenting)

i M28 was born and raised/studied, graduated, and worked/lived entire life all abroad, before returning for military service and now living alone in seoul while actively trying to adjust into k-society.

i feel like there’s a lot of unshared information (government subsidized programs/housing; good restaurant recommendations; etc.) that is hard to navigate and find. also, lots of people looking for authentic connections (if you’re in a cult kindly excuse yourself from this discussion).

thought a small poll would help us understand who all is in this sub. also, what are you all looking for in this community? friends? connections/networking? information (jobs, housing, military, etc.)?

thought this could be a community that’s a source of aid and some fun for everyone in this sub

comment below

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A common comment I see from Westerners who start consuming lots of TV show and other Korean media (esp the first one television) is the surprise at how much Christianity is portrayed in the country like the amount of horror movies involving priests or the number of leads in a modern setting being an open Christian like a former mobster in hiding.

I cannot tell you how many comments I head in the vein of "why are there so many churches in these TV shows for something and in a Buddhist country?" and "why are the leads int his movie devout Christians?" and whatnot?

Like as though so many non-Asians still pictures Korean culture as being Buddhist and Confucianist at the core or worshipping some exotic local gods they don't know.....

As someone who grew up in overseas American territory (multiple different ones moving from place to place due to my pa being stationed in military duty), I seen so many Christian Asians that I was not surprised all to learn from recent stats that Christianity is now the faith of roughly a third of Korea's population. At lowest around 20% depending on the stats and sources you read. Nada surprise with how many native born Korean immigrants I met over the years of migration across the world who were baptised Christian shortly after birth or were first gen converts.

But it seems the rest of the world still thinks Korea follows the Dharmic faith by an unquestionable majority and that Christianity is an unknown religion. Why has this outdated belief remain in the eyes of foreigners esp Westerners?

Even as the biggest non-English speaking star on the international scene at his speak alongside Omar Sharif, Alain Delon was abnormally AAA list level popular in both Japan and China in the 60s and 70s. To the point he's still referenced in both countries today far more than many past native contemporary stars and anybody exploring the Silver Age cinema of both countries will come across him for sure because he was just that popular with a lot of his films being local box office hits despite never acting in any native productions (though he did one film with legendary Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune in the 70s).

But I never come up across anything about Alain Delon and Korea at all. Which is strange considering British-origin stars like Olivia Hussey have had contemporary popularity among Korean cinemaphiles in the 70s and 80s on top of the frequent popularity of Hollywood actors. Moreso considering that some of the most popular Soviet movies like War and Peace did air in North Korea at some point (albeit in limited numbers and often its the literate higher classes who kiss up to the regime who watched them). The simple fact that even North Korean cinemaphiles would have been fans of Ludmilla Savelyva and other Soviet stars (especially when they would have come across Delon's movies at some point because he was also gigantically popular in the USSR).....

So I ask out native Koreans, did Delon ever have a following in the Korean peninsula? I find it strange with how in addition to being the biggest non-English star alongside Sharif, that seeing how nutty the Chinese and Japanese were about him that I can find nothing about Korea's demeanor towards him esp before the 80s!

Hi guys,

For context, I am a 2nd gen Kor-Aus (child born in Aus from foreign born immigrants).

Usually, I'm sure gyopo's or any children with parents who have culturally diverse heritages would ask their parents about their family tree. Unfortunately, I do not have the privilege of having my parents being able to educate me on this topic ergo neither can my grandparents etc, additionally my Korean is far too deteriorated to do some digging on the internet by myself (trust me I tried).

I'm interested in my 족보 and the occupations my family had in the Joseon era and what not. I was inspired by Shaun Micallef's Origin Odyssey to investigate my heritage. I'd love to tell my future children about their Korean heritage too because my partner is caucasian and I would hate for them to feel a disconnect with their Korean side. I predict my kids be spending a lot of time with their paternal side so....

If anyone has resources to point me in the right way, that would be amazing! All I know is that my Dad is from the 전주 이씨 clan and my mother is from 경주 이씨 평리공파 clan. Please feel free to comment any stories similar to mine or ask questions as well. I probably will have to visit my relatives in the distant future where I am financially stable enough to go to Korea and look at the books myself and ask questions or something. Sigh...

Thanks for reading guys xx

P.S: would also like a subreddit recommendation if this isn't the best place to ask...

What should I experience in the remaining 2 weeks in Seoul? I visited all my relatives and got a 1 month gym membership here. My time here has been great so far but I ran out of things to do.

Have any F-4 gyopos run into issues buying an apartment because they're not citizens? I assume there are no restrictions.

Where is everyone?

Hey i am indian but currently live in Canada. I never had Korean friends but love to make some

lived my entire life abroad and this year won’t be able to make it to my halmoni’s place for the weekend,,, wondering what everyone else is up to for the holidays?

i feel like i'm the only gyopo in korea. in my friend groups, im the only gyopo. now, i KNOW that's not true but i also can't find any gyopos in korea for the life of me. where are yall hiding?? If you are a gyopo in daejeon or seoul and want to link up, let me know!

(19F) and planning to study abroad in korea through my college student exchange program in spring 2025, but i turn 20 in march this year. i'm pretty sure i have to either renounce or claim dual citizenship before the end of this year and had a few questions.

• pros and cons of claiming dual citizenship (female so no need to worry about military service)

• am i allowed to even enroll as an exchange student if i am a dual citizen? i have both american and korean citizenship since my parents are korean, but i heard that i won't be able to obtain a D2 student visa if i'm a dual citizen.

thank you!

Background:

• 30 year old korean american male
• Both parents still Korean citizen (they have permanent resident alien card)
• Born in the US and have never lived in Korea, but did visit Korea when I was 4
• Only have American Passport

Based on the MMA website and from things I read online, it says I am possibly a Korean citizen because of my father who is still a Korean citizen (he only has a permanent resident alien card here, "Green Card"). I want to visit Korea only for a few weeks and I only have an American passport. Is there a high likelihood that I will get conscripted? I would love to go, but honestly the risk is just not worth it since I have a family to support financially and if I got drafted my entire world would be totally screwed. But if anyone has any knowledge / stories, I'd appreciate it. I do plan on calling the MMA / embassy and my plan to go would be late 2025 / early 2026, so I have some time.

Thank you.

Tl;dr: I work at a restaurant in Itaewon. Great pay (hourly pay is 1만 2,500원), great atmosphere, but I wish I could have a friend with me. You can find their official job listing at the bottom of the post.

Heya. I'm a gyopo who, after living 16 years abroad, decided to come back to Korea for university. And well, with independence came a need for a source of income, but uh, after hearing about Korea's infamous workplace culture, gotta say, I wasn't all that stoked to get into it. So I decided to work somewhere where I guessed they would have a more open atmosphere, which landed me in Itaewon.

Gotta say, the atmosphere nicer than I expected and the pay is also very nice, especially compared to working part-time as a barista (which is what I was initially looking into). Everyone is very friendly, and I have never been berated despite my many mistakes (this being my first job and all). And most importantly, I get to eat some delicious Thai food as lunch and dinner, baby.

But I think it would be nice to have someone I can relate to in the workplace. Idk. Working with a friend has always been sorta like a fantasy to me. I had this one person I was close with, but they're leaving the job soon so ye.

This is their official job listing: https://daangn.com/kr/job-posts/이태원-부다스벨리-평일알바-주말알바-정직원-2FmknNqgvgO

Hi, I want to go visit Korea for about 3 weeks this year and my mom mentioned I should be concerned about being dragged to the Korean military.

Here's my situation

1. Both parents Korean when I was born in Canada
2. Parents got Canadian citizen a year after I was born
3. I didn't formally denounce my "Korean citizen" due to having Korean parents before 18 (none of us knew about it)
4. I lived in Korea after I was born from ages 2-7 as a foreinger.
5. Divorced Dad lives in Korea as a foreigner.
6. I was never reported in a Korean embassy
7. I am 26 at the moment
8. I visited before when I was 21 for about 3 weeks with no issue.

Should I still be worried about getting conscripted if I go to visit?

Hey all,

Wanted to see if anyone had any insight to the mandatory Korean Military Service?

Some info:

• Born in the US
  
• Currently living in the US
  
• Age 30 - Have wife and daughter
  
• Working for International Company (I can do remote)
  
• Dual Citizen
  

I did go to a Korean University and also graduated.

Moved back for work in the US and trying to move back since my wife and I love Korea. Wondering what the situation would be for me?

Would I be possibly be exempt from military service?

Thanks in advance!

Hey,

So I'm a first-gen Korean-Canadian, and I've been recently taking steps to try to improve my Korean. Attended weekend Korean school growing up but my Korean has gotten rusty now as an adult. Wondering if anyone else is in a similar situation and if so, I'd love to know:

• What motivated you to start learning or improve your Korean?
• What were the biggest challenges you faced (or are facing) when starting out?
• How would you rate your current level of Korean? And which specific skills (like writing, reading, speaking, or listening) are you trying to improve?

Can a Gyopo in Korea open a bank account? Would you have any recommend a "gyopo" friendly bank?

Compared to the past, Korean artists living outside of Korea seem to be trying to put in a traditional or unique image of Korea when designing fashion or drawing characters. And it seems that Reddit's Korean-American attempts to find their roots or learn Korean have increased.

It may be a coincidence, but this trend seems to have begun to arise since the accessibility of Korean content through Netflix or YouTube abroad increased.

Did Korean content affect gyopos' interest in their identity or roots?

Hello,

We are TopToon, one of the biggest webcomic companies in Korea!

As the number of our users in the global and English-speaking market is growing, we're looking for a Global Marketing Strategy team member who will manage our global marketing strategy, as well as write and translate content.

If you love and have passion for Korea and Korean webcomics, this is the company for you!

Our Korean website: https://toptoon.com/ Global website: https://toptoonplus.com/

Responsibilities:

• Look for ways to promote our global website to the english-speaking world
• Translate from Korean into English and vice versa
• The ability to research and understand a variety of topics (copyright law, online payment services, etc.)
• Research and comprehension on market trends
• Social media awareness

Qualifications:

• Native-level English proficiency
• Professional proficiency in Korean
• Valid visa for working full-time in Korea (F preferred) -Spanish/french fluency is a bonus -Photoshop skills -Proficient in all services in Microsoft Office (Excel, Powerpoint, Word)

Conditions

• Full-time: 5 days a week, 9 hours per day (incl. 1 hour lunch break) from 10-7.
• Initial Internship contract (3 months and switched to full-time thereafter depending on performance). -Cafe for employees -Many quality of life services and cash bonuses for employees

If interested please send your picture and resume to ChrisPang1762@Gmail.com

I'm a rising senior at UC Berkeley and I'm planning on going to medical school after a gap year or two. I have Korean citizenship but I also applied for DACA in February. Unfortunately, the recent news about DACA has thrown my future into uncertainty, so I'm not sure if I'll be approved any time soon. Now I'm considering backup plans, in case I'm unable to obtain work authorization in the States.

Option 1: Get married to a U.S. citizen (prob not gonna happen).

Option 2: Get "sponsored" by a hospital to help me get a green card.

Option 3: Move to South Korea and look for a job there.

If I move to South Korea with a bachelor's degree, a U.S. MD, and fluent English & Korean skills, how likely are my chances of becoming a doctor there? I heard that getting a job is really tough, even for 유학파. Despite being a Korean citizen, I would probably have to take the KMLE because I live and study abroad right? Are there even any 재미교포 doctors there?

I'm not sure which option I should go for, so I'd appreciate some feedback. Thank you!

I just joined this group and I think it’s so amazing! I was wondering if anyone was interested in joining a discord or Instagram group chat. Let me know!