Korean emoticons can make chatting and texting with your Korean friends a lot more fun and genuine. Also called Korean smileys, they are similar to other East Asian emoticons, with the exception that Korean emoticons use Hangul letters like ㅂ, ㅇ, and ㅅ.
Below you can find Korean emoticons list with translations. The cute picture emoticons all come from free Korean app MyPeople, and text emoticons come from other apps as well as Kimchi Man’s experience. He was also kind enough to translate and give explanations for them.
All emoticons in this post belong to Daum, and you can use them for free if you download their chatting app.
Korean picture emoticons
Love emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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사랑해 | I love you (Korean) |
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알라뷰 | I love you (English) |
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오빠야~ | Oppaaa |
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보고파 | I miss you |
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뽀뽀 해줘~ | Kiss meee |
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난 너의 노예 | I’m your slave |
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넌 나의 노예 | You’re my slave |
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따랑해 | I love you (cute) |
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우리 왕자님 | My prince |
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우리 공주님 | My princess |
Greeting emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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좋은 하루~ | Good daaay |
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긋모닝 | Good morning |
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똑똑 | Knock knock |
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잘자~ | Sleep tiiiight |
Cute emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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완전 이뻐 | Totally pretty |
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부끄 부끄 | Shy |
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내꺼~ | Mineee |
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초쿌릿 주세용 | Give me a chocolate |
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이쁜짓 | (Reaction to someone doing cute stuff) |
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샤방 | dazzling |
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나 이거 사줘 | Buy me that |
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소심 | Prudent. Cautious. |
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궁디 팡팡 | Spank |
Thanking and apologizing emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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화풀어 | Take it easy. Don’t be mad. |
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미안 미안 | Sorry, sorry. |
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너의 죄를 사하노라 | I forgive your sin |
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쌩유 | Thank you(English) |
Laughing and crying emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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ㅎㅎㅎ | Hehehe |
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ㅋㅋㅋ | LOL |
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엄마야 | Mommy (when you get scared) |
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엉엉 | Boohoo |
Affirmative emoticons
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ㅇㅇ | Yes.(Short for 응) |
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오키 | Okay |
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파이팅 | Good luck (fighting) |
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토닥 토닥 | There there (comforting) |
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앗 싸! | Yay |
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참 잘했어요 | Good work! (school stamp) |
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대박! | Jackpot! |
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축하해 | Congratulations |
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ㅇㅇ | Yes |
Complaining and angry emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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배고파 | Hungry |
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인생 뭐 있나… | There’s nothing special in life… |
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피곤해 | I’m tired |
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졸려 | Sleepy |
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나른 나른 | Drowsy. Sluggish. |
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개 피곤 | So tired |
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흥 | Psh |
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짱나! | I’m annoyed |
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고마 해라 | That’s enough. Stop. |
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아오~ 진짜! | Why, you little… ! |
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이게 자네 최선인가 | Is this the best you can do |
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싫은데? | Nah, don’t feel like it. |
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뭐래 | What are you saying? (I know what you are saying but I don’t care.) |
Common Korean expressions emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
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어디야? | Where are you? |
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뭐하삼 | What are you doing? |
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콜미 | Call me |
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대답해! | Answer me! |
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놀아줘~ | (Please) Hang out with me |
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밥먹자! | Let’s eat! |
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영화한판 고고! | Let’s watch a movie! |
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시러 | No, I don’t want to. |
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뭥미 | What the heck is that? |
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헉! | OMG! |
Korean text emoticons
Korean text and call apps come with predefined emoticons so you just select the one you want and don’t have to worry about typing.
Korean text emoticons are usually standing upright, unlike their western counterparts which lie on their sides. They are more complex, use special characters and, most importantly, express emotions using eyes rather than mouth. To see this, compare
| (^_^) | :-) | |
| eyes | ^ | : |
| mouth | _ | ) |
Also, Hangul letters can be used. Korean text emoticons list:
| Symbol | Explanation | Example | ||||
| ㅇ, ㅎ, ㅍ, ㅡ | Eyes (Hangul). | ㅎ_ㅎ | (ㅇ_ㅇ) | ㅡ_ㅡ | ㅎ.ㅎ | |
| ^ | Smiling eyes. | ^^ | ^_^ | (^_^) | ||
| ㅠ, ㅜ | Crying eyes (Hangul). | ㅠ.ㅠ | ㅠ_ㅠ | ㅠㅠ | ㅜㅜ | |
| >< | Eyes. | >.< | ||||
| ㅂ,ㅁ,ㅅ,ㅇ | Nose or mouth (Hangul). | ^ㅂ^ | ㅡㅅㅡ | ^ㅇ^ | ||
| * | Blushing, embarrasement. | ^^* | *^_^* | |||
| ; | Drops of sweat. Embarrassed, awkward, nervous. | ^^; | (^_^;;;) | |||
| ㅋ or ㅎ | Imitatating sound of laughter (Hangul). The more of them you string in a row, the more you are laughing. | ㅋㅋㅋ | 크크 | ㅎㅎㅎ | 히히 | |
| ㅇㅋ | OK | |||||
| ㅎㄷㄷ | Shaking with fear. Short for 후덜덜. | |||||
| ~ | Wink. | ^~ | (^_~) | |||
| ~ | This symbol, called tilde, means you are stretching out your speech. It makes what you are saying nicer or cuter. | |||||
| @ | Confused. | @.@ | (@_@) | |||
| •,⊙,∑ | Special characters.Note: Select Hangul character and press right CTRL. | (•¯ ∀ ¯•) | ⊙∑⊙ | @( ∙ • ∙ )@ | ||
The combinations you can create are endless now that you know the basic elements that make up Korean emoticons. As other Asian emoticons Korean ones are really cute, don’t you think?
See more in this series of posts:
| Previous | Next |
 Long distance relationship advice |
 How to send mail to Korea |
 Free text and call Korean apps |
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Oh! So cute and helpful. I know most of the expressions, but the emoticons are so pretty! I Hmm. Kakao talk is cute, but I also like those emoticons from My People!
It’s impressive that you know them! I’m looking forward to the day when my Korean is so advanced :)
Awww! so nice! Thanx a lot ! (^_~)
You’re very welcome :) We are happy you like it.