KIIP Culture Test: 8 Questions That Test Korea, Not Korean

④ 110. Korea splits its numbers by urgency. 112 is crime, 119 is fire, rescue and ambulance, and both are for emergencies only. 110 is the government complaints and enquiry line for everything that is not urgent — a question about a public office, a service, a form. 1345 is the immigration and life advice line for foreigners, in many languages.

The one almost nobody abroad knows is 110, and it is the one that saves you a trip. More on the rest in Korea's emergency numbers.

② Empty it and rinse it, then put it out. The rule for every recyclable in Korea is the same four words: 비우고, 헹구고, 분리하고, 섞지 않는다 — empty, rinse, separate by material, do not mix. A bottle with drink still in it contaminates the batch. A PET bottle is recyclable, so it belongs in neither a pay-as-you-throw bag nor the food waste bin.

The whole system, including the bags and the fines, is in how to throw away rubbish without getting fined.

④ The community service centre (주민센터 / 행정복지센터). A registered foreigner who moves reports the new address either at the 주민센터 of the district they moved into, or at the immigration office. Fire stations, post offices and banks do not take this report — which sounds obvious until you are standing in the wrong queue.

② 15 days. Under the Immigration Act, a registered foreigner who changes address must report it within 15 days of moving in, at the local community service centre or the immigration office.

This is the question on this page most likely to cost a reader real money, and the gap is wide: people assume 30 days because other countries give 30 days. Put it in your phone on moving day, with the boxes still unopened.

② 6 months. A foreigner who is not covered through an employer joins National Health Insurance as a local subscriber once they have lived here six months or more. Some groups join from arrival instead, including marriage migrants and students, so check your own category rather than assuming.

Three months is the old rule, which is why you still see it repeated in forum posts written years ago.

① 40 hours. The Labor Standards Act sets regular working hours at a maximum of 40 a week and 8 a day, not counting breaks. Overtime exists and is paid at a premium — but it is overtime, which is the entire point of the number being written down.

This question appears in the society section rather than a legal one because the programme treats it as something a resident should simply know about the country. It is a reasonable position.

② 팥죽 (patjuk), red bean porridge. On 동지, the winter solstice and the longest night of the year, people eat porridge made with red beans — the colour was believed to keep bad luck out of the house.

The others are each tied to their own day, which is how this whole cluster of questions works: 송편 is Chuseok, 떡국 is the new year at Seollal, and 삼계탕 belongs to the hottest days of summer. Learn the food and you have learned the festival.

③ 호랑이, the tiger. Korea's official national symbols are the 태극기 (flag), 애국가 (anthem), 무궁화 (the rose of Sharon), the 국새 (national seal) and the national emblem. The tiger is everywhere — Olympic mascots, folk paintings, the shape people draw the peninsula into — and it is still not on the list.

That gap is exactly why the question exists. A "not" question is checking whether you learned the list or absorbed the vibe.