Romance season is here again so here is a little run down on Korean Valentine’s Day and associated dates with some cute and romantic vocab to win some hearts! Valentine’s Day in Korea is a bit different than what you may be used to so I’ll explain a bit too. Just quick I want to say a happy 1 year to koreanling as well~ Thank you for joining me on this; connecting and learning alongside me!
How Do They Celebrate Valentine’s Day in Korea?
In Korea, Valentine’s is structured a bit interestingly and split into 2 parts. On Feb. 14th, it’s typical for women to give chocolate to their male partner or crush on Valentine’s Day. Next on White Day, a month later (March 14th), the men who received chocolates or gifts are supposed to give the women a gift.
What is White Day in Korea?
White Day (화이트 데이) in Korea originates from the Japanese holiday of the same name. The Japanese tradition has spread out to South Korea, Taiwan, and China. Going along with the namesake of the day men would give out white chocolates, sweets, or gifts but now it’s common to give any type of sweet or gift unrelated to the color. Some women also join in and give back on White Day if they have received a gift/chocolates on Valentine’s such as gifting with friends or their partner.
What About April 14th in Korea?
You may have heard about Black Day (블랙데이) alongside Korean Valentine’s Day and White Day. For everyone who didn’t receive or gift anything on Valentine’s or White Day; Black Day is focused on single people and has a tradition of single people getting together to eat 자장면 (Chinese-Korean noodle dish with black bean sauce; pictured above).
Korea has a big market for dating and romance and a full series of monthly days on the 14th related to one thing or another- with varying degrees of popularity, though much less than Valentine’s Day.
Korean Valentine’s Day Vocab & Phrases
해피 발렌타인 데이: Happy Valentine’s Day
발렌타인 데이에 카드: Valentine’s Day card
발렌타인 초콜릿 만들었어요: I made Valentine’s chocolate
발렌타인데이 카드 만들입니다: I’m making Valentine’s Day cards
발렌타인 카드에 좋을 메세지는 “___”: A good message for Valentine’s card is “___”
Confessions
좋아해요: I like you
보고 싶어요: I want to see you/I miss you
사랑해요: I love you
진심으로: sincerely
많이: a lot
나도: me too
나도 보고 싶어요: I miss you too
많이 좋아해요: I like you a lot
진심으로 사랑해요: I sincerely love you
Asking Someone Out
발렌타인 데이에 계획 있어요?: Do you have plans for Valentine’s Day?
우리 같이 저녁 먹고싶어요?: Do you want to have dinner together?
우리 사귈래요: Let’s go out/date
우리 데이트 할까요?: Shall we go on a date?
Compliments
잘 생겼어: handsome
매력적인: attractive
예뻐: pretty
귀여워: cute
친절하네: kind/sweet
정말 친절하네요: You are really kind
짝사랑은 너무 매력적입니다: My crush is so attractive
그녀의 눈은 너무 예뻐요: Her eyes are very pretty
Korean Romance Terms
Here are some quick terms, though you can see more long and get into the meaning and definitions in my previous post about dating terms!
남친: boyfriend
여친: girlfriend
자기: darling (for any gender)
여보: honey (for any gender)
짝사랑: unrequited love
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