Bowing Is Less Formal Than You'd Think
Bowing is the everyday greeting and thank-you gesture in Korea, but as a visitor you don't need to worry about doing it "correctly." A small head nod (roughly 15-20 degrees) covers most situations a tourist will run into — greeting a shop assistant, thanking a bus driver, acknowledging a hotel staffer. A deeper bow from the waist is reserved for more formal moments, like meeting someone considerably older in a business or family context, and it's not something foreigners are expected to perform. Koreans generally understand that visitors won't know the finer gradations, and a warm nod plus eye contact reads as perfectly polite. You'll also see many Koreans shift to a handshake with foreigners specifically, sometimes paired with a slight nod — it's common enough that you shouldn't read too much into which one someone offers first.
Using Two Hands
One custom that does hold up consistently: using both hands (or your free hand supporting your other wrist) when giving or receiving something from someone older or in a service relationship — money at a till, a business card, a gift, a drink being poured for you. It's rooted in Confucian ideas about deference to age and status that still shape everyday interactions in Korea. As a tourist, you won't be expected to track this precisely, and plenty of quick transactions (a cashier handing you a receipt) happen one-handed without anyone thinking twice. But if you're in a more personal exchange — receiving a gift, handing over payment at a small traditional restaurant, exchanging something with an older host — using two hands, or at least not snatching something with one hand while looking away, is a small gesture that Koreans notice and appreciate.
Age Shapes How Koreans Interact
Korean social interaction runs on a mostly invisible age-based hierarchy: the language itself has different speech levels depending on whether you're talking to someone older, younger, or a stranger, and Koreans meeting for the first time will often ask your age early on specifically to figure out how to address you. You don't need to navigate this yourself — nobody expects a foreign tourist to speak in the right honorific register — but it explains a few things you might notice: a Korean friend group where people don't all speak to each other the same way, someone letting an older person order first or take the first seat, or a new acquaintance asking your age soon after "what's your name." It's not rudeness, it's just how the social map gets drawn. There's also a well-known quirk worth knowing: Korea traditionally counted age differently (everyone got a year older on New Year's Day rather than on their birthday), though Korea officially standardized to international age-counting for most legal and everyday purposes in 2023, so this matters less than it used to for a visitor.
Shoes Off Indoors
Removing your shoes before entering is the norm in Korean homes, and you should expect to do the same at temples, guesthouses (especially hanok-style stays), and any restaurant with traditional floor seating (jwajik) rather than tables and chairs. Look for a raised floor, a shoe rack, or a pile of shoes at the entrance as your cue — it's a reliable signal even if nobody says anything. Wear socks without holes and you'll be fine; some homes and guesthouses provide indoor slippers, though many people go barefoot or sock-footed on heated ondol floors. Restaurants with regular chair-and-table seating generally don't require you to remove shoes, so this is a floor-seating rule more than a blanket rule for every restaurant.
Photography at Temples, Palaces, and of People
Palaces like Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung are relaxed about photography in courtyards and grounds — this is exactly why renting a hanbok for the day and taking photos there is such a common tourist activity. Temples are more situational: photographing the courtyards, gates, and exterior architecture is normally fine, but photography is often restricted or discouraged inside the main worship hall, especially during a ceremony or when people are praying or meditating. Look for posted signs, and when there's no sign and you're unsure, it's safer to ask or simply not photograph inside. A few temple-specific habits worth knowing: dress modestly (shoulders covered), keep your voice down, and don't walk through the central door of a main hall, which is traditionally reserved for monks — use the side doors instead.
For photographing people, the general courtesy is the same as most places: ask before taking a close-up portrait of someone you don't know, and be cautious around anyone in a military uniform or near sensitive sites like border areas, where photography can be restricted for security reasons. Street photography of crowds or public scenes is common and not an issue.