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Low sense of hygiene of Koreans

Is it really because of community spirit that cares about each other?

Haemin Yim
6 years ago

Why is the sense of hygiene of Koreans so low?



Korea has achieved remarkable economic development like other Asian countries, but they still have a lower sense of hygiene compare to their economic status. As a Korean, it is heartbreaking to say that my country has a low sense of sanitation. However, as long as I have experienced from my life overseas, this is so true.



Of course, at first, I did not knew it.

There are many examples that shows Koreans low sense of hygiene, but 5 typical examples are the following.


Sharing Foods in a pot.


This is one of the embarrassing culture of Korea that Asians might already know. It depends on what we eat, but usually food that serves in a big dishes like stew, we use to share the dishes. To be honest, I am not uncomfortable with sharing it with family and close friends. However, if it comes to a fellow workers, it is not very pleasant. However, when one starts eating, it is not easy to say that you don't want to share the dishes. 



After eating meat, Koreans eat stew(jjigae) after, and it is mostly shared.
*Pic. from
Korea's famous franchise 'Saemaul restaurant''s Kimchi stew


Western food is no exception. When they go to a restaurant with friends, they share salads, pasta, steaks, and pizza together. If you don't care about hygiene, it is actually a good idea since you can try variety kinds of foods.


The common scenery of "sharing pasta."


Because of the food sharing culture, it is easy for Koreans to be exposed to various diseases. Some people says that it makes our body to be resistant to bacteria that it is rather good.  Well, it is not yet known whether it is true or not. But nowadays, some people do not share foods or take foods off to their personal plate before other people touches it. However, it is a bit difficult to say that you don't share food because you don't want other people to think you as a neat freak. Especially when our my mom says, "You have already shared a lot with me. Why being so mean with family?,"there is really nothing to say.


Not wearing masks since it is suffocating.


I was surprised to see bunch of people wearing masks in foreign countries. Especially, other Asian countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, are very thorough about wearing masks. In Korea, I have never learned about wearing masks to prevent others being infected when I got cold. Only a small number of people who got cold wore masks in Korea.



I wondered how could this many people in Japan wear masks all the time.


These days, there are more people wearing masks than before because of the fine dust. However, even this only refers to younger people. This phenomenon is not from caring of others but 'to protect oneself'. In fact, fine dust makes throat hurt that you feel like your life is getting shortened. Still, there are so many people not wearing masks because it is uncomfortable.

Most of Korea's middle-aged adults who have spent their lives in clean air don't care about these problems. Even the day when the fine dust concentration level is high, it is easy to find those who are climbing up the mountain and breaths bad airs so willingly. My parents, as well, do not care much about this since they are in countryside where, they believe, has better quality of air.


60% of Koreans do not wear masks even when the fine dust concentration level is high.(Source: JoongAng Ilbo)


Coughing without covering.


One of the most reflective thing I have learned when I was in America. One day, I discovered that Americans cover their faces with the whole arm when they cough. Normally, Koreans do not cover their mouth when they are coughing, or coves it with their hands. Coughing without covering is not good because you can spread germs to other people. That is why many Koreans use their hands to cover their mouths. However, then microorganisms could be transferred to desks, computers, public goods, and etc. if they don't wash their hands immediately. So this is not very sanitary, as well.

  This is how most of the Koreans cough.


On the other hand, if I cover my mouth with my arms when I cough, I can basically prevent spreading viruses. In addition, most of the microorganisms in the clothes are killed naturally so this pretty hygienic. In Korea, however, most people do not think that covering mouth while coughing is unsanitary.



0% of sense of hygiene in Hospital.


Korea has a high level of medical technology, but their hygienic are those of underdeveloped countries. As in the case of not wearing the mask, the rate of wearing masks is very low even in the hospital. They don't wear masks when they are visiting the patient. For last 3 years, they have forced people to wear masks in emergency room, but this was also after 2015 when the MERSC broke out.



Nearly half(41.5%) of nurses work in emergency room has experienced an infectious disease. (Source: KBS)


Before the MERSC situation, even the famous hospitals in Korea did not required wearing masks. Now, they are coming up with several solutions such as allowing a representative person to wear mask when they are visiting a patient as a group. However, local small-medium size hospitals are still insensitive to these cultural improvements.


Other than the mask issue, it is pitiful that they are not making hand sanitizes mandate when people are visiting patients. External infections on human hands could be a fatal treat to patients who has relatively weak immune system, but this is not familiar in Korean culture. There is hardly any education to emphasize the risk of buried germs, that even the medical teams barely uses it.


(Source: Money Today)

Because of ineffective infection control,  South Korea has become the country where MERS occured the most except the Middle East.  (186 confirmed infections, 38 deaths, third in the world)

At the time, the number of foreign tourists fell sharply and the whole country was frightened. MERS spread rapidly around the large hospital emergency rooms.




Why does Koreans have low sense of hygiene?

The tendency of minimizing the future risks and the selfishness makes them to think "I'm fine, if it's not me."


Koreans tend to think themselves healthy. According to the 'Seoul Citizens' Health Awareness Behavior' survey conducted every year by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 80 ~ 85% of the citizens of Seoul responded that they are above "normal." They think 'subjectively' that they are healthy, so they will not harm anybody and raises the chance of risks. I remember the time when the MERSC issue was going on, there was a Korean who was actually an object of isolation because high possibility of infection, board on the airplane heading to Hong Kong that Hong Kong people got really angry at Koreans. The reason why Koreans don't wear masks is because they don't really think that they could be sick from the fine dust. Because they think they will be fine, those who really care about health only wore masks.


85% of people answering that they are above 'normal' on subjective health awareness survey. (Source: Seoul Metropolitan Government) 


Personally, it seems like Koreans are behaving this way because they tend to minimize the risks of the future. Although it is true that their sense of hygiene is very low, overall Korean society is forming a habit not observing public moralities or orders. For example, it is natural for Koreans to pull over onto the shoulders that it makes things difficult when their is a fire since it makes it difficult for fire trucks to enter. As a result, fire suppression is delayed and people are injured badly.

Most people do not have any awareness of this because of their ignorance. They should not think that it is okay to do certain things because others do it too, because it could lead us to the greater damage at the end.

Eventually, education is the only way to improve problems of Korea. We have to teach how to care for others at school or at home, the reason why we should care about hygiene and health, and why we should keep public morals, and the problems will be solved quickly. Like many Koreans are very thorough about brushing their teeth since they learn '333 Laws of brushing Teeth' (3 minutes 3 times a day for 3 minutes) when they were kids, they should learn how to behave to others in depth from the young age. At the end, we have to learn that caring others is keeping ourselves.