commenting for when you get the answer but I feel like honorifics in general are a big deal over there ┗( T﹏T )┛
Absolutely, seniority holds real weight in South Korean culture, particularly in environments like universities and workplaces. This system, rooted in Confucian values, emphasizes respect based on age and position. In a university setting, seniors (sunbaes) often take on a mentorship role with juniors (hoobaes), offering guidance and, sometimes, expecting compliance in return.
Now, while manhwas tend to turn up the drama for effect, the cultural expectation for juniors to show respect isn’t fiction. Ignoring or challenging a senior can genuinely come across as disrespectful, which is why conflicts like this are believable. It’s not that every interaction is intense, but there’s a strong cultural undertone that values hierarchy and the smooth following of it.
(Saw this firsthand)
Yes. Korea is a hierarchical
and age-based society. If you're not the same age, you should talk to the older one in formal speech. Hence why, for koreans, when they meet someone for the first time, they ask for their age so they know how to address each others or just talk in formal speech in to strangers.
Does someone know if seniority is actually taken this seriously in SK among students? Whenever I'm reading manhwas set in a university there's always some kind of conflict with a hoobae not doing something the sunbae said to them, and then getting all pissy about it how disrespectful they are.