One of the things that will not leave you indifferent, is the culture of this ancient country with rich history background. South Korea is country where peace and harmony were reached and created by wars and past tragedies, but still retained its traditions and heritage.
Kore is a divided country, at the End of World War II in 1948, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel. And know is referred as two different countries, South Korea (the Republic of Korea) and North Korea (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), consequently North Korea became communist country, while South Korea is not.
There are actually two Korean New Years for Koreans. This is because Koreans go by two calendars; one being the same people use in the West, and the other being the Lunar calendar. But that doesn't mean they don't celebrate the actual New Year, they do and celebrate the other one as well. Usually it comes after the actual New Year, but dates varies due to Lunar calendar.
In Korea, there are some old conventions that some individuals will even now take after. One is to visit the oldest individual from the family and bow toward them to show regard and to wish them a long life (this would happen on New Years Eve).
One of the things is that politeness and good manners are highly valued there, and it is very important to be able to adjust to a unique greeting gesture, which is a 90 degree bow facing the person that is in front of you, and being younger one, you need to greet (bow) first.
Another thing is being ready to give and receive gifts, even if you are a guest coming to South Korea, you still need to bring some little symbolic gifts (advisable from your country, or something that represents it, or can not be found in Korea), because you are 100% will get a lot of gifts from them, and even if they says no, they still wants something from you in return.
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