This week’s episode is a companion to my newsletter essay, not an audio version of it. Read the essay and listen to the episode together, and you’ll get the fuller picture.

The newsletter tells the broader story of how honbap, eating alone in Korea, moved from quiet embarrassment to restaurants, map filters, one-person menus, and a visible part of modern Korean life.

The podcast takes a slightly different route. Here, I slow down and ask what it feels like to eat alone in a culture where eating together has carried so much meaning. Why did one person at a table ever look awkward? When does eating alone become freedom? When does it become loneliness? And when is it simply lunch, which in Korea is almost never simply lunch?

Read the full newsletter essay here.

💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions.

Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time is written and hosted by Jiwon Yoon. New episodes every week, alongside the newsletter.

Korean Words and Phrases in This Episode

안녕하세요, 반갑습니다 (annyeonghaseyo, bangapseumnida)Hello, nice to meet you. A warm Korean greeting used at the beginning of the episode.

혼밥 (honbap)Eating alone. A combination of honja (alone) and bap (meal/rice). Literally, something like “solo meal” or “solo rice.”

혼자 (honja)Alone or by oneself.

밥 (bap)Rice, but also meal. In Korean, bap often carries emotional meaning beyond food itself.

밥 먹었어? (bap meogeosseo?)Did you eat? In Korean culture, this can also mean “Are you okay?” or “Are you taking care of yourself?”

밥은 먹고 다녀? (babeun meokgo danyeo?)Are you eating these days? A caring, worried question often used when someone seems tired, busy, or not okay.

뭐라도 먹어야지 (mworado meogeoyaji)You should eat something. A common Korean expression of care, especially when someone is struggling.

부대찌개 (budae jjigae)A spicy Korean stew often shared at the table. It is sometimes translated as “army base stew” because of its postwar history and ingredients.

전골 (jeongol)Korean hot pot or shared stew, usually cooked and eaten from a large pot at the table.

반찬 (banchan)Korean side dishes served with a meal, often placed in the middle of the table and shared.

눈치 (nunchi)Social radar, or the ability to read the room. It means sensing mood, expectations, and unspoken social cues.

회식 (hoesik)A workplace dinner or after-work gathering, often involving coworkers, hierarchy, drinking, and social obligations.

혼자 점심 먹는 사람을 위한 산문 (honja jeomsim meokneun sarameul wihan sanmun)Prose for Those Who Eat Lunch Alone. A 2024 Korean essay anthology by ten writers, with fifty short essays about lunch, solitude, work, food, and the inner life of eating alone.

오늘도 들어주셔서 감사합니다 (oneuldo deureojusyeoseo gamsahamnida)Thank you for listening today.

다음 주에 만나요 (daeum jue mannayo)See you next week.

This episode is a companion to this week’s Substack essay, “The Korean Table Is Not Finished Until Someone Suggests Coffee.”

Today, we move from Korean restaurant buttons and “저기요!” to paper napkin hygiene, shared banchan, sungnyung, nurungji, mix coffee, iced Americano, and the family memories hidden inside everyday eating habits.

The newsletter is the table.This episode is the coffee afterward.

💬 I’d really love to hear what this brought up for you. Come find me here and share your thoughts, stories, or questions.

Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time is written and hosted by Jiwon Yoon. New episodes every week, alongside the newsletter.

Korean Words & Phrases in This Episode

한국인은 왜 이렇게 먹을까? (Hangugineun wae ireoke meogeulkka?) — Why Do Koreans Eat This Way? The Korean title of Joo Young-ha’s book.

저기요 (jeo-gi-yo) — “Excuse me” or “Over here.” A common way to call a server in Korea.

이모 (imo) — “Auntie.” In restaurants, this can be a warm, familiar way to call an older female server. It is practical, not literal.

기분 위생학 (gibun wisaenghak) — Literally something like “feeling hygiene.” In this episode, I translate it as emotional hygiene, or the feeling of cleanliness.

반찬 (banchan) — Korean side dishes served with rice.

찌개 (jjigae) — Korean stew.

나물 (namul) — Seasoned vegetables or greens.

쌈장 (ssamjang) — A thick, savory dipping sauce often eaten with lettuce wraps and grilled meat.

비빔밥 (bibimbap) — A Korean mixed rice dish, usually served with vegetables, sauce, and sometimes meat or egg.

김밥 (gimbap) — A Korean seaweed rice roll, often filled with vegetables, egg, pickled radish, and sometimes beef, tuna, kimchi, or other fillings.

김 (gim) — Dried seaweed, often used to wrap rice or make gimbap.

앞접시 (apjeopshi) — A small personal plate used to take food from shared dishes.

그러다가 속 버린다 (geureodaga sok beorinda) — “You’ll ruin your stomach that way.” A phrase some Korean adults might say if a child drinks too much water while eating.

숭늉 (sungnyung) — Warm roasted-rice water, traditionally made by pouring hot water over scorched rice at the bottom of a pot.

누룽지 (nurungji) — Scorched or toasted rice from the bottom of the pot.

냄비밥 (naembibap) — Rice cooked in a pot, rather than in an electric rice cooker.

프림 (peurim) — Powdered coffee creamer. From the English word “cream.”

얼죽아 (eoljukah) — Short for 얼어 죽어도 아이스 아메리카노.

얼어 죽어도 아이스 아메리카노 (eoreo jugeodo iced Americano) — “Even if I freeze to death, iced Americano.” A playful Korean phrase for people who drink iced Americano even in winter.

깍두기 (kkakdugi) — Cubed radish kimchi.

혼밥 (honbap) — Eating alone. Short for 혼자 밥 먹기, eating a meal by oneself.