How to Make Korean Friends in Korea (Meetups)

 

http://seoulistic.com/travel-to-korea/10-things-to-get-absolutely-free-in-seoul/

Published on February 8, 2013 in 13 Comments

If you’re traveling to Korea or living in Korea, you might feel a little lost and alone. What better way to cure your sorrows than to make local Korean friends! If you’re wondering how you can make Korean friends while you’re in Korea, we have a few meetup suggestions
Note for Korea residents: Making friends in Korea is the same anywhere in the world. Most people, just like you, make friends at school or at work. But if the people around you are only non-Koreans, it might be harder to make local Korean friends. So we suggest being active, and of course friendly. Join a yoga class, a salsa dance group, a scarf knitting interest group, a photography club for taking pictures of cats. Just anything to be in a position to meet people. And of couse, it’s your job to be friendly too.
But just in case you need a starting point, here are a few suggestions:

Languagecast

Language exchange

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Languagecast is a meetup group that meets weekly for language exchange. The awesome thing about this group is that there are tons of local Koreans who are looking to practice languages. Many are studying English, but there are also tons of Koreans studying other languages (i.e. Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, German, etc.). But if you’re not into studying languages, don’t worry too much. Although this is a language focused group, many people will just go to hang out and meet new people. It’s a great way to meet Korean friends and friends of other countries.
Find out more from their meetup page, facebook page and official website.
And they’re uber convenient because they have meetups in Hongdae, Gangnam, Koryeodae (Korea University).
If you’re just looking for language exchange, there might even be a languagecast in your city (Lima, Vancouver, Vienna).

SeoulMate

Seoul tours and friendship

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SeoulMate is one of the services we highlighted in our 10 Free Things to Get in Seoul post. They are super cool because they offer free tours of Korea’s attractions. And although they’re not professional tour guides, you can think of them as professional hang out buddies. Basically the group will hook you up with Korean college students to tour some of Korea’s awesomest sites. But in addition to tours, these people also offer their oh so valuable friendship. They’re young, outgoing and friendly. You’ll like them so much that you might even want to go to one of their reunion parties!
Check out their official website and their facebook page.

Friends in Korea

Language exchange, partying, speed dating and unicorns… maybe

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Checkout friendsinkorea.comif you want language exchange, partying, speed dating and unicorns. Their hang outs range from eating food and drinking coffee to drinking beer and going clubbing. They’ll have events that are setup for group discounts (i.e. free entrance to clubs, all you can drink beer, etc.). And although this group is geared more towards foreigners that reside in Korea, it’s still a great way for visitors to meet some Korean friends too. And to ride unicorns.
Check out their facebook page and their official website!
If you speak Korean…

Korean Interest Groups

모임 (moim) / 동호회 (donghohoe)

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Many Korean people find friends in interest groups called 모임 (moim) or 동호회 (donghohoe) and so these groups are perfect for finding real Korean locals. On top of that, these are interest groups with activities that range from hiking, bowling, wine tasting, biking and anything else you can think of. So it’s perfect for making friends with the most local of Koreans while enjoying your favorite activities! Most of these can be found with simple searches on Daum.net or Naver.com (e.g. 서울볼링동호회 – Seoul bowling interest group). If your Korean isn’t the best, ask a friend to help you find a good one.
Obviously these aren’t the only ways to make Korean friends. There are tons of meetup groups out there with lots of Koreans. If you know of any, feel free to add to the list in the comments below!