K-Culture
Asking for Directions
There will come a time when you need a local's help to get to your destination. How you ask someone for directionsi n Korean?
15-min Lesson Goals
A Bit of a Lesson
Samsung (삼성)
Literally meaning ‘three (삼) stars (성)', named so by the founder 이병철 in 1938 with his vision to make his company everlasting, like the stars in the night sky.
Hyundai (현대)
Founded in 1967 and famous for its cars, the name means ‘modernity’ or ‘contemporary’.
KIA (기아)
Owned by 현대, this automaker was founded 1944. It’s name is made up of two characters: '기 (to arise) and 아 (Asia)' - meaning ‘to rise up from Asia’.
LG (엘지)
This electronics brand was actually formed by the merger of 2 companies: 럭키 (Lucky) and 금성 (Gold Star). The name was aptly changed to LG for convenience.
FILA (휠라)
Did you know that the originally Italian brand was acquired by Fila Korea in 2007? Fila Korea worked hard to renew the ageing brand image and made it appealing for younger consumers and is now a force to be reckoned with in the apparel industry.
Kakao (카카오)
This iconic yellow is now synonymous with the tech giant in Korea. Kakao gained massive popularity after developing KakaoTalk, a free internet messaging app. It wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that everyone in Korea uses it! Now there is nothing they don’t do from KakaoBanking to KakaoTaxi!