About Go Korea Guide

Hi, I’m 고구마 (Goguma) — welcome to Go Korea Guide

I’m a guy in my 40s, born and raised in Korea, and I run a restaurant here in Seoul. Between the lunch and dinner rush, I’ve spent years doing something I love just as much as cooking: helping my foreign friends survive — and actually enjoy — daily life in Korea.

It started simply. Friends and customers from abroad would come in looking a little lost. They’d tell me how they froze at a cafe kiosk, got charged for parking they could’ve had free, or sat waiting for a bill that was never coming to the table. They loved Korea, but the small everyday moments — the ones no guidebook covers — kept tripping them up. So I started explaining. The exact phrase to say. What the staff were really asking. Why Koreans do things a certain way.

Go Korea Guide is that same help, written down for everyone.

What this site is about

This isn’t a tourist blog about the top ten palaces. It’s a practical, real-life guide to the situations you actually run into when you live in or visit Korea — ordering coffee exactly how you like it, splitting the bill, using delivery apps, renting a bike, handling a pharmacy visit, and reading the subtle social cues that make Korean conversations click.

Every guide comes with the real Korean phrases you can use on the spot — written in Korean, with pronunciation and meaning — plus the cultural context behind them, drawn from my own life here and years of walking visiting friends through it all.

Why trust me on this

I’m not a textbook and I’m not a translation app. I’m a Korean who lives this every day: I serve people for a living, I watch how locals and visitors navigate the same spaces, and I’ve personally coached more friends through Korean daily life than I can count. When I explain how something works here, it’s because I’ve seen it play out in front of me a thousand times.

My goal is simple: to help you move through Korea with confidence, not confusion — and to enjoy the warmth of this place the way locals do.

Say hello

Got a question, a situation you’re stuck on, or a topic you’d love me to cover? I genuinely like hearing from readers. You can reach me anytime at dddpower8605@gmail.com, or through the Contact page.

Thanks for stopping by — and 환영합니다 (welcome). Let’s make your life in Korea easier, one real phrase at a time.

— 고구마 (Goguma), Go Korea Guide