Every culture has it's own unique set of superstitions, and South Korea is no different. The number four is considered unlucky in some Asian countries like China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.



If you step onto an elevator in South Korea you probably won't see a button for forth floor instead of 4 they use "F". Even apartment buildings and hospitals skip this number. Most Koreans would typically avoid the number four if they can. The reason behind this is that in Chinese the word for death is 死亡 [sǐ wáng] and the word for 4 is (四 [sì]) , as they sounds similar it is considered unlucky. 

You maybe thinking why a Chinese word has an influence on Korean culture? South Korea share significant historical and cultural ties with China. There is a traditional writing system in Korea known as Hanja which consist of mainly Chinese characters. Before the creation of Hangul (The Korean alphabet) by Sejong The Great, Koreans used Chinese. 

For extra knowledge :- fear or phobia of number 4 is known as tetraphobia.



If there is any mistakes feel free to correct me and if you have any question do ask me in the comment section 😊

If you are learning Korean or interested in South Korea do check my blogs👈.