why don't South Koreans just say they are from "Korea"?
Jan 15, 2017, 6:20 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2008
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why don't South Koreans just say they are from "Korea"?
I have never met a North Korean. They obviously exist and do travel but are extremely rare. When encountering a South Korean they inevitably answer they are from "South Korea".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Jan 15, 2017, 4:30 pm
#3
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Jan 15, 2017, 5:04 pm
#4
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Yes, there are other countries in North America, Central America, and South America. But hard-pressed to say there are other countries in America. But I got how you interpreted my response.
Jan 15, 2017, 5:06 pm
#5
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I have never met a North Korean. They obviously exist and do travel but are extremely rare. When encountering a South Korean they inevitably answer they are from "South Korea".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Jan 15, 2017, 5:14 pm
#6
Join Date: May 2016
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Yup, same. All my Korean friends are just "Korean." They never specify which half of the peninsula their relatives are from.
Jan 15, 2017, 9:41 pm
#7
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Jan 15, 2017, 9:57 pm
#8
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If you are in mainland China or in some cases Hong Kong, you would be commonly assumed to be possibly North Korean or an ethnic Korean Chinese, typically from post WWII northeast China, over 1 million apparently.
Feb 18, 2017, 2:13 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2014
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I have never met a North Korean. They obviously exist and do travel but are extremely rare. When encountering a South Korean they inevitably answer they are from "South Korea".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Why not just say "Korea"? Most people get it, right? Sort of like how we say we are from America (if you are from the US of A) even though that isn't its full name, and potentially there are other countries in "America".
Feb 18, 2017, 10:51 am
#10
Join Date: Mar 2004
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I was in China back in 1990 while the college I was working for was trying to establish exchanges with educational institutions there.
At one school in Chongqing, we meet some North Koreans, who had been sent to Chongqing to study...English.
I guess their government was so paranoid about ideological contamination that it didn't dare send anyone to a real English-speaking country. Perhaps they thought it was dangerous enough that the school in Chongqing had teachers from Australia.
At one school in Chongqing, we meet some North Koreans, who had been sent to Chongqing to study...English.
I guess their government was so paranoid about ideological contamination that it didn't dare send anyone to a real English-speaking country. Perhaps they thought it was dangerous enough that the school in Chongqing had teachers from Australia.
Mar 1, 2017, 1:54 pm
#11
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Mar 9, 2017, 7:52 am
#12
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
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Meh. The demonym specifically for people from the US is "American," at least according to...folks in the eastern hemisphere.
Whether Peruvians, Paraguayans or Grenadans cavil about this is neither here nor there, because indeed people in the US are also Americans.
Whether Peruvians, Paraguayans or Grenadans cavil about this is neither here nor there, because indeed people in the US are also Americans.
Mar 9, 2017, 2:35 pm
#14
Join Date: May 2016
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OK, before this becomes an argument over semantics, I Googled "America" and "Americas" and they can both be used to reference the American continent as a whole while "America" can also be used to reference "the United States of America." There, issue resolved. Back to the OP's question.....