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, also known as stickers, all belong to Daum and come from now defunct app MyPeople which Daum deprecated when they merged with Kakao. Now most Korean people use free Korean app KakaoTalk.
Copy-paste list of Korean text emoticons (such as this one ㅠ.ㅠ) as well as their meaning is at the bottom of this post. I collected them from various Korean chatting apps as well as Kimchi Man‘s experience. He was also kind enough to translate and give explanations for them.
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 (Konglish) |
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오빠야~ | Oppaaa |
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보고파 | I miss you (said in a cute way) |
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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 (said in a cute way) |
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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 (Konglish) |
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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 (said in a cute way) |
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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 |
 |
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 (Konglish) |
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. (Konglish |
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파이팅 | Good luck (Lit. fighting; Konglish) |
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토닥 토닥 | There there (comforting someone) |
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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 |
Complaining and angry emoticons
| Emoticon | Hangul | Translation |
 |
배고파
(꼬르륵) |
Hungry
(stomach growling) |
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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 meee |
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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
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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 usually more complex and use larger number of special characters.
In a very interesting book I am reading right now “The Routledge Course in Korean Translation” there is an explanation of some subtle differences between Korean and Western emoticons. For example, even though both ^^ and :) show a smiling face, Korean version has a subtle nuance of “please understand”. In the same way ㅠ.ㅠ and :_( both represent a crying face but Korean version is also a bit apologetic.
Most importantly, the focus of expression in Koreans emotions is on the eyes rather than the mouth. To see this, compare Korean emoticon for smiley face on the left with the Western emoticon on the right
| (^_^) | :-) | |
| character used for the eyes | ^ | : |
| character used for the mouth | _ | ) |
Also, Hangul letters are often 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. | ^~ | (^_~) | |||
| ~ | Adding 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. |
(•¯ ∀ ¯•) | ⊙∑⊙ | @( ∙ • ∙ )@ | ||
To use these you will need to set up Korean keyboard on your device, and I recommend you learn touch typing Korean, that is typing using all ten fingers without looking at keyboard. It’s much easier than it sounds.
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 |
|
Loving Korean | Boyfriend in Korea 
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.
These are sooo cute! I could even learn from them. ^^ I especially loved the “화풀어” hihi.. Thanks a lot for sharing! :D
Haha, yeah it seems like a cute way to make someone forgive you :) We are glad you find them useful.
Reblogged this on ASIANthusiast.
I found it cute, but kinda sad , my device do n0t supPort all those aPps. Maybe s0on, I’ll buy a new updated ph0ne but n0t n0w,still unemployed. Kyeopta. Love. Love.
Hello Oegukeen & Kimchi Man! ^_^
I would just like to say thank you for this post! I now know what emotion my Korean friends are trying to convey when they use tilde (~). I have a question though, does that mean when they use more than one tilde,(~) they are more happy?
Like for example “Hello~” vs “Hello~~~”
Thank you!
P.S. I am now following your blog. ^_^
I think it can be happy, or just cute.
If you watch Korean movies or dramas you surely have heard it when they whine the last syllable. I think it’s the best way to pick up the nuances :)
hi
Ok, I*ve ready some of your posts and I must say that because of what I read on your blog, I discover a new world. You showed me a lot of new things, and informations. Thank you for doing this blog.
great work..수고하셨습니다 ..
amazing ..now I can easily chat with korean friends ..수고하세요.. 고맙습니다..
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It nyc I just want to learn how to pronounce the words cx am just learning the words. I love watching Korean movies so this is helpful and interesting to me
that good. :) i want to used that when chat korean friend
I could read in Korean but I need to know what they mean
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Hello! I wonder if the stickers are free to use, for example on Instagram posts.
Thank you :)