[Q&A] How to know if a Korean guy likes you?

Having Korean boyfriend has given me a much better insight into Korean culture and customs. I know how to tell Korean age, I know why Korean chopsticks are made of metal, I know there is no such thing as “Sea of Japan”, How to tell if Korean guy likes you - East Sea vs Sea of JapanI know how to address Koreans of different age, I know to handle everything with both hands…

What I don’t know is how to read Korean men’s minds (a pity). I am a bit closer to it with Kimchi Man, but not much.

All the Korean men I have met have been very different and diverse. So has their attitude towards relationships. Some are going to tell you they love you even before they know the color of your eyes, others will not be vocal about their feelings even when they are ready to die for you.

For everyone who is wondering what is the secret to understanding a Korean man’s heart: There is none.

You don’t need to worry that they are sending some secret Korean signal which you are not picking up. Culture has a hard time influencing something as personal and fundamental as love.

How to know if Korean guy likes you - Oppa do you like me 오빠 나 좋아해?That being said, I completely understand what it is like falling in love and having no idea if object of your adoration feels the same way. I was there.  We all want to know for sure if we are happily in love or rushing towards heartbreak. That’s why I am going to do my best to help the two women who asked the questions bellow. I just want to make sure everyone understands I would be no more or less qualified to answer those questions even if I had never met a Korean guy in my life.

And if you know a Korean guy, a Korean guy you like, and you don’t know, if this Korean guy you like, likes you back – forget that he’s Korean.

That might just be the thing you need to truly see what he is trying to tell you.

You might also like:

How to know if a Korean guy likes you Does a Korean guy like me how to tell if a Korean guy is into me
Will a Korean guy be attracted to me? How does a Korean guy court girls? Will my Korean man marry me?

Anonymous asked:

I am in love with a Korean guy, we go to the same university and we met when we took the same class about a year ago. I am 19 and he is 21.

I always feel and act very shy, when I am around a person I really like. When there is no him, I am very funny, communicative and totally normal.

 I am not Korean (still Asian), and I don’t speak Korean.

The problem is that…He is not a shy one at all, at least he seems to be so. Sometimes when we meet at some university events, we talk, and he seems to like me as a girl, but we never text/chat after that. I mean, we talk only when we see each other. That’s why talking to him is a very rare occasion, because we meet rarely.

 The first time I saw him this year after a long period of time, was another university event, he sent an invitation to me on Facebook, which I don’t think was something special or anything, but I decided to go there still. On the day when he sent the invitation, our eyes met at a cafe, when I was walking past him, but I was with my girl friend and he was with a girl friend as well, so I thought: ”Alright, I haven’t seen you for ages, why say Hi then, you probably don’t even remember me”. He didn’t wave hi to me either. So yeah, then BOOM I got that invitation, and I decided to go. Cause I thought that accidental meeting had something to do with the invitation.

When I just got there, he came up first saying ”Ooh, it’s been a long time” and hugged me, which was a bit weird, because we are not that close friends at all, till that time, we probably had a talk for a couple of times, not more. I mean, I’m not that kind of friend of his, who he could miss. We were never close at all. But I think at the moment when he hugged me, I clearly understood that I liked him a lot. I knew I liked him before, but I thought it was not serious.

I met him the second time about a couple days ago at a university event as well. There were very few people there, but he took the time to come up to me and talk and I tried to act as normal and funny as I could, but I was burning inside and shaking and all that… in the end he said that he’d like to attend an event of mine (I’m the president of a student group) so I promised to send him an invitation.

Everything seems to be okay, but I don’t understand, why he is so passive, if he likes me. Does it mean, that he doesn’t like me as a girl, but just being friendly? He never sends me messages or anything like that… I am hesitating to message him, cause I’m afraid I would never get a reply…and I think that a guy must make the first moves. And if he doesn’t, then it means he’s not interested, in my opinion. I would understand, if he was a shy one, but… as i said before he’s not. He’s very friendly and communication is not a problem for him.

And the second problem is that I don’t know for sure if he has a girlfriend or not. However, the Facebook status says Single otherwise, the last thing I would want to do is ruin a relationship…

Also, I thought about the problem, that I am not Korean, and I thought about the possibility, that he is not interested in me as a girl, because I’m not Korean.

Also, I think it’s worth mentioning that he’s kind of Americanized Korean. He has been living in the USA for about 5 years I believe. But he almost always hangs out with Korean friends.

anyways..please heeeeeeelp

               I don’t think that the guy has to make the first move. Why would he? Maybe he is shy when it comes to asking girls out, maybe he is passive, maybe he sees you only as a friend, maybe he already has a girlfriend… You could go all day long guessing “maybes” if you don’t do something about it.

Even if he sees you just as a friend, making the first move might make him see you in a different light.

It’s never easy being rejected but Facebook and text messaging have certainly made it a lot easier than it used to be. You don’t need to pour your heart out to him, just ask him: “Do you want to go out for a coffee/movie/walk”. If he says yes, there is a very good chance he likes you as a girl :)

I have no idea if he has a girlfriend or if he is a national chauvinist. Since he is human, both are possible.  Koreans I know have no problem dating someone who is not Korean, and in my case not even Asian. Many questions we got on this site are from Asian non-Korean women who are dating a Korean man, so obviously not all Koreans have a problem with it.

And why wouldn’t you want to ruin his relationship? You are 19, and 21! It’s not like he is married with children and you are tearing apart a family. If you asking him out is enough to ruin his relationship then that relationship deserves to be ruined. I was in a relationship when I met Kimchi Man and I am much happier now. On the other hand, no matter who come to my doorstep now, no one can take me away from Kimchi Man.

You should know that if I didn’t make the first move, Kimchi Man would never dare do it himself (maybe not never but my guess is it would take him 10 years or so ^^). And he was very interested in me. If you keep thinking a girl shouldn’t make the first move, another one will come along who thinks differently and snatch this guy right under your nose.

Ching asked:

Hi…

I’m half Chinese half Filipino girl but my family and I moved to Phil for good when I was still young.. I am now 22 years old, and I met this Korean guy last year almost 9 months ago.. well, I just really feel so alone about this so I hope you can help me out.. here’s my story..

 9 months ago July 2011 to be exact I applied in a Korean school in our city, I was accepted and first week in school I had only 2 students and one of the two was the guy I fell in love with. At that time I was 21 and he’s 25 I think. At first I dont really feel anything for him, just the teacher-student relationship. I also noticed he was this shy type of guy, first 2 weeks with him he barely talked. But after about 4 weeks we just got close and I dunno how it happened. But after that he started teasing me everytime we see each other in the hallway, he’s calling me vampire and i’m calling him werewolf. A lot of teasing and all. And then one time during class he asked me who I like then I told him I like Lee Seung Gi [korean actor] then he repeated that question again and I answered him same answer I gave him before then after than he start acting like his heart is in pain [physically] at first I dunno what does that action means but my friend told me he might be hurt that it wasnt him that I like and so he started acting that in a joke way so it wont be obvious.. then he also asked if I do have a boyfriend that time and I said no and he told me that I must get a boyfriend, and I also mentioned to him that I have a curfew around 7pm and he told me that my boyfriend might want to be with me more than my curfew time.. what does that mean??

 and sometimes he’ll notice what I’m wearing like last time when I was wearing a coat and I just passed by him he really asked me isnt your coat thick? dont u feel hot? and one time when I had a new student and he’s kinda good looking and almost same age with me, he started asking questions like, So are you happy that the good looking new student is in your class?… who’s better me or him? – those kind of questions and I dunno why he’s asking me like that..

 and one of my friend in that school was also his tutor.. so whenever he’ll have class with that friend of mine he would usually asked her to call me and let me go inside their room while they’re having class and it happened many times, i was just there listening to their conversation and whenever I decided to move out the room he would usually stop me and say Vampire where are you going? just stay here.

 or sometimes when we meet each other in the hallway he would blocked my way and wont let me pass and he’d tell me Touch me first before I let you pass.. and you know this kind of actions he’s showing me made me fell for him I think.. fell harder that I dont even know how to get out of this situation..

 and during his birthday I gave him a not Happy Birthday Werewolf! and he took a picture of it and upload it in his fb..

 he also challenged me one time to play snake and ladder with him and he told me if he wins I wont give him assignments for 1 week and if i win he wont complain even if I give him assignments everyday.. its the first time that I have ever played that game and it was with him, so I treasure it a lot (:

 what do you think his actions mean?? does it mean something? does he like me?

 ah, a day after his birthday he informed all his tutors that he will be absent for the whole day because last night he got drunk and hangover the next morning.. so I was expecting that he’ll also be absent in my class but I was surprised when he entered my room that day.. so I asked him Why are u here? I thought you’d be absent the whole day and he said I was thinking that if I wont come here you’ll be alone here. I was so touched when he told me that but ofcourse I act as if its nothing… and then 1 week after that he was removed in my class and so I started to feel like I was left hanging, a lot of questions are running into my head.. my friends were telling me that he must be afraid that he’d fall for me and so on…

 what I did was I tried to talk to him again, initiate the conversation first but I can feel this change like it’s not the way it was back before.. we dont talk that much anymore unlike before when he was still in my class.. we passed by each other in the hallway without even saying hi.. I asked him he doesnt talked to me anymore, he said He was shy. I tried everything to gain back the friendship we once had the closeness we once had… but I think I falied or maybe I didnt try harder? I was asking myself What should I do? but later on I just stopped trying to talk to him just trying to accept that maybe it wasnt meant to be.. September that year we stopped talking, offcially. February this year he went back to korea without talking to me. He had my number. This march a friend of mine who is also his friend told me that he has a kakaotalk so why not try to add him. So I added him and again I have to initiate the talking.. we talked and he told me he misses me but overjoyed about his message i wasnt able to reply to him right away and then he sent me a message again saying he was just kidding with the ‘haha’ … what does that mean???! I hate him but still I believe he meant it when he told me he misses me.. what do u think? Now, I decided to just stop talking to him stop initiating just to talk to him cause its always me who texts first maybe he really doesnt care at all so why would I waste my time with him…

 please help me what to do is my decision right?

 I badly need your opinion guys.. I hope you can help me out with this..

 sorry I think I wrote too long, its just that if i skipped a few lines u might not be able to get my situation.. kinda a long story (:

 he’s still single until now and he told me before that he once had a girlfriend 4 years ago…

 hoping to get a reply from you soon ^^ thanks ~

I employed help from Kimchi Man on this one. He says guy obviously liked you before but something changed. You can’t know what changed and to obsess about it would just be wasting your time. Since he is in Korea and your interactions are just one-way, you made a good decision.

Your friends are trying to protect your feelings when they say he is just afraid he will fall in love with you. Unless there is some specific obstacle you know – like policy in your school that students and teachers can’t be in a relationship (although now that he’s not in school that argument became moot) –  why would he be afraid of liking you?

Stick to your decision and don’t waste your time on this Korean guy. Maybe he will come around and contact you, but chances are very slim.

-Oegukeen

Leave your question in the comments below if you still don’t know if Korean guy likes you. :)

Also recommended:

How to tell if a Korean guy likes youHow to get a Korean guy to like you

.

324 responses to “[Q&A] How to know if a Korean guy likes you?”

  1. AnnaaSunKwng Avatar
    AnnaaSunKwng

    Hello :) I’m not sure if this blog is still active but I’ll try to ask. I’m Anna 21 yrs old a pure filipina living in Philippines. I like a korean guy and maybe inlove with him already. well I never been attracted to korean guys since then well ofcourse I loved their Korean Drama Movies and everything
    they’re cute but not really my type. I’m more on a white man americans, greeks etc. But everything changes when I met this guy from a nightclub. When I saw him I didn’t know what I had just feel and then when we get to know each other talking and calling chatting etc. And now I’m dating him, I really don’t know what’s into him. I trusted him because he is such a nice guy a super sweet guy. But the problem is he has a korean gf but he is true to me :( I don’t know already I’m hurt. I want him only him please help.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I need help… I have never done this before but I really don’t know what to do. I met a Korean guy when I was backpacking in Japan. We travelled together for a while before he went back to Korea and he was an amazing person; funny, caring, quite shy and even though his English wasn’t so good, we still had so much to talk about. He was a complete gentleman and I liked him so much so I just told him about it and fortunately, he told me he felt the same. We started dating and chatting even when he got back to Korea until I replied his last message 2 months ago and he never texted back. I have sent him several messages to a point I felt like a stalker but he never read my messages or reply even though he comes online. I have no idea what happened for him to ignore me like this. We didn’t even fight or anything… everything was going on perfectly, I thought. I feel so hurt because I really really liked him and it’s so hard to forget about him and all the time we spent together. I even accepted a job in the country he wanted to settle in so that we could be together. I don’t know what to think anymore and I don’t know what to do. Trying to forget about him isn’t working so well for me either. ;(

  3. Anonymous Avatar
    Anonymous

    I know they are not answering any questions regarding dating so I’m writing here in the comments to get some advice from everyone. haha

    Back story, I am now 18 and he’s a year younger than me. He is a new student at our school and only came a few months ago. I have always thought he is very good-looking but never made a move to get to know him because I was too shy. He has been living in Australia for 4 years now, but he mainly hangs out with korean and asian so I don’t really feel he’s that ‘white’.

    We have always seen each other at school and I know some of his friends (because all the koreans at our school are in the same friend circle. I am asian but not korean btw) but we never really talked. So two weeks ago, it was the last day of the term and one of his friends wanted to hangout after school, so we met up. At first I thought he was going to bring like, 2 friends with him but he ended up bringing the whole korean group! Of course, the guy I like came too. And because my group of friends doesn’t speak a lot of english so we were playing truth or dare in a small circle. I got a dare to ask someone I don’t know if I’m pretty and I can only stop when I get a yes as an answer, so I asked one of the korean guys next to me but he said maybe, then I move on to the next person I don’t know, and it was my crush. I remember my cheeks felt so hot and he was asking me if I wanted him to tell the truth and I don’t know why but I was like, ‘No! Don’t tell the truth!’ because I was scared he would say I’m not, I guess hahaha. Then he was laughing and he’s just so cute when he laughs. Then he looked at me and said, I would say yes. That was the first time we talked. And that night, my friends went home earlier because they had to catch their buses, but my bus doesn’t come until midnight so I stayed with the koreans. We talked more after that and I found out that he’s much more just looks. Even though he’s younger than I am, he is quite mature and very well-mannered. That made me like him even more.

    We did met up like once after that and last weekend I got invited to one of the korean’s house party. He was there as well. After taking a few shots I was half drunk, I remember before that we were all sitting at the table and he was on the other end of the table, we looked at each other and I was laughing at him because his face got so red after drinking just a little bit. Then somehow we ended up sitting together and I asked if he knew one of the girls in his grade likes him and he said yeah. And I was like, do you like her? He said, I don’t know, she looks too young. But according to his friend he said he didn’t like her, but I’m not so sure anymore. Anyways we went out for walks and I couldn’t see clearly by then but I still vaguely remember what happened. I asked him what was his first impression of me and he said he thought I look very similar to this other girl that used to go to our school. And I said, she’s way prettier. Not because I wanted him to give me a compliment but because I really think that way. And he said, she’s not bad. Then said, you’re not bad too. Then after that I don’t quite remember where the conversation led to. Then I remember when we were out for a walk he told me one of the koreans saw a clown (the clown prank is still ongoing since it’s near halloween) nearby and he knew I was scared and kept teasing me about it. I was pretty drunk and scared, my conscious self just grabbed his arm. He didn’t push me away or say anything and let me hold on to his arm. So all that time, I was holding onto his arm. And I remember him pointing at the guys walking in front and said, they are for the clowns, they get stab and we run. hahahaha Then at some point, he took my phone and put in his phone number and told me I can call him if I want to hangout after graduation (because seniors leave school a month before they do).

    We’ve been talking on KaTalk for three days only. And I was the one who texted first because I don’t think the ‘wait-for-him-to-text-first’ rule still exists. On the first day we talked I said I was going to take a nap, talk later. And he replied with ‘text me when you wake up.’ I was pretty confused by this and I’m still not sure if he’s being nice or he really meant it. (help!) Then I tried a couple of times to leave a close ended answer he then starts up with a new topic to talk about, does that mean he’s trying or being nice? Also once I left a close ended answer and he sent me a few pictures and I said one of them look good then later that night he changed his display picture to that photo. The second morning I also texted first but the third morning he texted me first. He’s not the world’s fastest texter and I don’t want to seem too desperate so I take my time to reply every now and then, and I also don’t see him on his phone a lot. We are not in the same year so I don’t know if he talks to a lot of other girls in class but whenever I see him at school I never see girls around him. I am so confused, I’m not sure if he’s interested or just being nice. Sorry this is so long and I really appreciate it if someone could help. :’) Thank You!

  4. Madispoint Avatar
    Madispoint

    I am writing here to share what I am experiencing more than a month with a Korean guy. Perhaps, I think I would be able to help you answer your questions and decide your course of actions.

    I met him in front of the church. He actually stopped me and told me that he liked my style which threw me ‘what?’ He asked for my number and I gave it to him. Reason? You may tailor remarks like ‘cruel’ against me but I was hurting that time. This was due to a guy I met on chat, asked him to be his gf, chatted with, but it turned out he could not consider us being together since we had not seen each other yet. But a message struck me after that: When one door closes, another one opens. I held onto that. It was actually meeting the Korean guy that made me remember that message again, hence, I thought, ‘Why not?’

    We met again after texting and he explained bluntly and practically that he does not want to be friends with me rather a girlfriend. I agreed. And it is worth it. He is the one whose making me believe that destiny exists. He cares a lot about me. I hope that, you, girlfriends in this blog. It is not only about the move alone, consider it as something practical. We only have a definite number of years to live, do something you won’t regret. What I did raise the eyebrows of some of my friends since it was too fast – 1 date to be exact. But I am holding onto something – it is my happiness in this aspect of my life.

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    (THIS IS VERY LONG SO PLEASE BARE WITH ME)

    Hi! My name is Roanne, I’m a College Student here in Philippines. It was January 8, 2016 when me and my friend was there at the cafeteria waiting for our other friends’ breaktime. Then later on a group of Korean guys sit beside or table to eat, and few minutes passed my friends came. I noticed this guy with glasses and before they left I asked his friends what is his name, they told me Jonah. I did like him the very first time I saw him, it’s not love at first sight but my first impressions of him caught me, I kinda think he’s an intelligent, dedicated and serious guy. After that day I waited every after my class to see him so that I could introduce myself and be friends with him. Weeks passed I haven’t seen him anymore. Then I met a Korean exchange student in our school, my friend ask him if he knew Jonah, but he told my friend that “I think this guy already left.” I didn’t lose my hope until I met another Koreans, I asked one of them if she knew someone named Jonah, she told me that she isn’t familiar and she didn’t saw the guy. I almost forgot about looking for him because of studies and a lot of school works, We were already in the mid or our semester when me and my friend applied for the Korean Language Program and right after that my other friend texted me that she saw Jonah infront of our school. I really don’t believe her because I knew that he already left.

    March 12, 2016 was the first day of our KLP, and then I saw him. It was really him! I’m going to fast forward, after I got his kakaotalk name I confessed to him last April 1, 2016 and tomorrow after that he invited me for a talk after my class. I was so shocked at that time and I had a lot of emotions, I got excited, freaked out, don’t know what to do, happy and scared. I was so scared that I was thinking that he might turn me down in person that’s why I just told him “I’m just joking”, he just replied that he forgot about the April Fool’s soooo yeah life must go on hahaha

    April 16, 2016, our last KLP class I asked him for a talked but he told me that he had an appointment with the other teachers, but still we got our first photo that time. I just left him a message in his kakaotalk and he replied “I’m sorry but I don’t feel the same way.” I don’t know how to feel that time but I chose not to give up even though there’s no chance of me talking to him again after that message, I just kept on telling my friends about this and then I met this guy who knows someone that is a teacher at the building where in Jonah was studying, my friend told me that he’s going to ask that Teacher if he knows someone named Jonah. I don’t know what should I call this, a fate or just a coincidence, Jonah was one of this teacher’s students and they are very close. By the way I was rejected thrice and he even told the teacher he’s going to be monk but I still kept going because he’s going back to Korea at June 11, 2016. I still watch him walk at our university and I even attended his Sport Fest. His last event that I attended was The Reality where in he did Poetry Slam with his group mates. I sat at the back a bit far away where he was sitting (bc I don’t want to freak him out with my presence) the teacher noticed me and he began telling Jonah that I was there watching, then he started looking for me, I saw him looking for me 2 times! I hided because I thought he’ll be angry at me following him around.

    After his last week I messaged the teacher to meet me so I can give him my letters for Jonah. It was Tuesday, June 7, 2016. The teacher told me that he asked Jonah to come but Jonah felt shy that time. I just gave the letters and left the building. Night that day I messaged the teacher and he told me that Jonah was so surprised, he never got those kind of letters before. EVER SINCE. It was

    It was Thursday, June 9, 2016 when me and my Psychology major friend was talking about his Korean friends were about to go back in Korea at 11pm that time, while we were talking my friend told me that “he’s there.” so I look behind me I saw him walking and I avoided to look at him and my friend told me “greet him it’s fine.” I can’t even do it even though I want to because it felt like I’m about to gag my heart out if he comes closer. I just look away and it was my friend who noticed something as Jonah walked away. My friend said “When he crossed infront of you he was looking down while walking, It means he wants to talk with you but don’t know how to start because he felt shy! It was already night when I decided to chat the teacher again if ever I can talk to Jonah for the last time and I won’t be shy anymore. “You can and actually he has a letter for you.” He shown me the letter and it has a paper heart along with it.

    It was Friday, June 10, 2016 before the day of his departure. After the mass, I went to the place where his graduation venue was. What I saw was the teachers and the teacher asked me “Where have you been? He’s been looking for you a while ago here’s the letter.” After I received the letter I ran to the Korean’s Building, as I go upstairs he was going down and he smiled at me!!!!! I asked him for a talk, while we were walking I asked him “Is there any plans of you going back here?” he answered “I’m not sure but after I became a soldier I can go back here, how about you? If I leave are you going to still study and stay here?” “yes” I answered him, and then we sat in the place where only two of us, JUST TWO OF US. While we are talking he kept asking me if I’m going to just stay here in the university. After that he told me to keep in touch after his 2year obligation in military. BUT WHY IS THERE A PAPER HEART ON THE LETTER THAT HE GAVE ME T_T I CAN’T HELP BUT ASSUME. WHY IS THAT HE WANTED TO SEE ME LIKE HE NEVER WANTED TO DO IT BEFORE? WHY WAS HE KEEP ASKING OF ME STAYING STILL IN MY UNIVERSITY? WHY IS HE SHY? AND THEN SCRATCHING HIS NAPE WHEN I ASKED HIM WHY WAS HE SHY?

  6. Joy Avatar
    Joy

    Hello,
    I am new to Korea. I am Asian too. I am studying at Seoul National University. Recently I am kinda liking Korean girls. I am going to write long sentences. Just wanna ask you guys how to get a Korean girlfriend.
    Anyone please give me few tips? I will appreciate you guys.

    Regards,
    Joy

Leave a reply to Anonymous Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Loving Korean

If Korean guy prefers Korean girls do I stand a chance

a place to read about learning Korean language, admiring rich and long Korean culture, and answering your questions about dating Korean guys, written by a diverse group of people. Join us as we have fun and learn about South Korea!

Let’s connect