I choose to do a project on Korea for my class, and I'm planning on focusing on South Korea. I will have to explain the culture there, but I'm kinda confused whether there is a difference in culture between North and South. I know North is communist and South isn't. Any help is appreciated. Thank you!

There are a few differences that pop off the top of my head.

1. Electricity. Check google earth night shots if you can. South Korea is aloud electricity. North Korea, is limited and pretty much the only lights that will be on at night is in the capital city.

2. South koreans are slowly becoming more "westernized". Were as north. Is not.



Up until the war they were the same country so yes there are lots of similarities, however, since the war alot has changed.

The difference between the two is night and day. South Korea is very advanced in comparison with North Korea (and most of the world). Even though the war between the two has only been under cease fire since the fifties, South Korea has caught up with the rest of the world fairly quick. Though they still struggle with social issues like sexism in the workplace. Not much is known about the daily life of North Korean citizens except what has been shown in some documentaries. (Note that these documentaries had to go through much screening by North Korean government before being released.) South Koreans have much more independence.

As for language differences, the North Korean accent sounds very different and is similar to a Japanese accent. They don't use "half speak" as much as South Korea and they have subtle differences in smaller things like numbers.

What is "half speak"? Never heard that expression before.

I would assume it's 반말.

Wow! You are absolutely right. I never realized 반 in 반말 means half. Thanx!

Yeah, I never made that connection either. That makes sense, though.