📌 한국어로 읽고 싶어요? 👉 [한국어 블로그]

Hello, everyone. 😊

In August, what is the most special day in your country?

Maybe one day comes to mind. Some countries celebrate their independence on August 15. Others celebrate a few days before or after. It’s interesting — many of these special days happen in the middle of August, all around the world.

But even at the same time of year, these days have slightly different faces. For some countries, it is “the day we won the war.” For others, it is “the day we got back what was taken from us.” Korea’s August 15 is closer to the second one.

So on this day, you can see the Korean flag (Taegeukgi) a little more often on the streets. On apartment windows, in front of government buildings, and sometimes even on passing cars, you can see a small Korean flag.

This day is Gwangbokjeol (광복절).

“Gwangbok (光復)” comes from two Chinese characters: light (光) and return (復). So it means “getting the light back.” It is the day Korea became free from Japanese rule, on August 15, 1945. This year, 2026, is the 81st anniversary.

But why do people say Korea “got its light back”? Getting the light back means there was a time when the light was lost. Let’s start with that story.

The time when Korea lost its light

In 1910, Japan forced Korea to become part of Japan. This is called annexation (joining two countries into one — here, joined by force). To rule Korea, Japan built the Joseon Government-General (조선총독부), the top office in charge of colonial rule.

From this time until 1945, Korea lived under Japanese occupation for 35 years. During this time, Korean people had many things taken away. They had no political freedom. If they asked for independence, they were arrested.

From the late 1930s, when Japan was fighting a big war, its policy became even stronger. Japan tried to turn Korean people into Japanese people. This kind of policy is called assimilation (trying to change one people into another). Here are some real examples:

• Koreans were forced to bow to Japanese gods. This is called Sinsa-chambae (신사참배) — being forced to bow at Japanese shrines.
• Koreans were forced to change their names into Japanese-style names. This is called Changssi-gaemyeong (창씨개명).
• Koreans were not allowed to use or teach the Korean language at school or in daily life. Near the end of the war, Japan tried to ban Korean completely.

People were taken away, too. Men were forced to become soldiers or workers — this is called forced mobilization (강제동원) — and were sent to battlefields, coal mines, and factories. Women and young girls were also taken away. Many of these women suffered terrible sexual violence under the Japanese military “comfort women” system. The fact that the Japanese military was involved was later admitted by the Japanese government in the 1993 Kono Statement.

So for Korean people, this time is not simply “a time long ago when another country ruled us.” It is remembered as a time of loss — a time when not only their country, but also their names, their language, and even people’s dignity were threatened by force.

But people did not stay quiet

On March 1, 1919, people all over the country came out to the streets holding the Korean flag.

“Long live Korean independence!”

Students, religious leaders, merchants, and farmers shouted it together. This big event is called the March 1st Movement (3·1운동). Because of this movement, in the same year, the Provisional Government of Korea (대한민국 임시정부) was set up far away in Shanghai, China — a temporary government made overseas until Korea could be free again.

The independence movement did not have just one shape. Some people fought with weapons. Some asked other countries for help. Some built schools. Some made newspapers.

And some people thought that protecting the Korean language was also a way to protect the country. The very language you are learning right now — they believed that protecting it was protecting the nation.

Protecting the language was also protecting the country

Even when Japan was pushing the Korean language down, scholars kept studying and teaching it. In 1921, a group of scholars who studied Korean was created. Later, this became the Korean Language Society (조선어학회). They worked to make Korean spelling rules the same everywhere, to organize the standard language, and to start making a Korean dictionary.

But in 1942, Japan arrested these scholars. The materials and dictionary drafts they had worked so hard to gather were taken away. Two scholars, Yi Yun-jae and Han Jing, died in prison. Several others were sent to jail — just because they tried to protect their language.

Even so, the Korean language did not disappear. The language you are learning today survived and came all the way here.

🎬 If you enjoy watching Korean movies or K-dramas,

“Malmoi” (말모이, 2019) is a must-watch film that shows the true history behind the language.

“Malmoi” means “gathering words.” In the time when the Korean language was banned, it is a story about ordinary people — not famous heroes — who gathered words from all over the country, one by one, to make a dictionary. If you are learning Korean, a dictionary may feel a little different after watching it.

As a person who teaches Korean, every Gwangbokjeol I feel thankful that the Korean language was protected. Protecting a country was not only something done with guns. Using your own language, teaching it, and passing it to the next generation — that was also a way to protect a nation.

And then, August 15, 1945

As World War II was ending, on August 15, 1945, Japan announced its surrender. At last, Korea became free.

Of course, freedom did not come for only one reason. Japan losing the war was a big part of it. At the same time, there was also the independence movement that Korean people never gave up, through all those long years.

So on Gwangbokjeol, people remember not only the result — “we got it back” — but also the long time it took to get there. There are names all Koreans know, like Yu Gwan-sun, Kim Gu, Yun Bong-gil, and Lee Bong-chang. But there were also many, many people who were sacrificed, whose names we don’t even know.

Hanging the Korean flag on Gwangbokjeol is one way to remember all of them.

This is the story of “Gwangbokjeol — Getting the Light Back.”

But the story of Gwangbokjeol does not end in 1945. Some of the wounds from that time have not healed yet. That is why the way Koreans feel about Japan today is a little complicated.

In Part 2, I’ll continue with “Gwangbokjeol — Today’s Story”: the problems that are still not solved, the films that try to remember them, and even the strange, strong feelings that come out during a Korea–Japan soccer match.

See you in Part 2~ 🥰

📢 Want to learn more about Korean culture? 👉 [ Korean Culture ] 

📖 Key words in this story

• How to Use TOPIK Writing Paper (원고지): 5 Simple Rules (Part 3)
• Korean Liberation Day(Gwangbokjeol): Do Koreans Still Dislike Japan? – Part 2
• August 15 in Korea: The Day Korea Got Its Light Back (광복절Gwangbokjeol, Part 1)
• TOPIK Writing Style: Turn Speaking Into “-다” Sentences (3 Simple Rules)-Part 2
• TOPIK Writing Explained: 4 Questions, 100 Points, Where to Start (Part 1)

Have you ever heard a conversation like this in a Korean shop?

Customer: 안녕히 계세요. (an-nyeong-hi gye-se-yo)

Staff: 안녕히 가세요. (an-nyeong-hi ga-se-yo)

Two people are saying goodbye at the same moment

In the last story, we learned that the “안녕” inside “안녕하세요?” is a warm way to ask if someone is at peace.

💡If you want to see the previous post, 👉 [ Click here ] 

When you meet someone, one “안녕하세요?” is enough.

But when you say goodbye, this “안녕” splits into two.

Let me tell you why.

What does “안녕히” mean?

To understand how to say goodbye in Korean, we said “안녕 (安寧)” means “calm and safe, with nothing wrong.”

When you add “-히”, the word “안녕히” means “calmly, safely.”

In English, it is close to peacefully or safely.

So this goodbye is really a small wish:

“Please stay well and safe.”

When you meet, and when you leave, you hope the other person is at peace.

But why two versions?

The secret is in the last verb

The answer is in two verbs: 가다 and 계시다.

가세요 ← 가다 (to go) — when the other person is leaving

계세요 ← 계시다 (to stay) — when the other person is staying

“계시다” may look new to you.

“계시다” is the polite form of “있다” (to be / to stay).

It is a respectful way to say that someone is in a place.

So when you say “안녕히 계세요” to someone who stays, it means “please stay here comfortably.”

🔎 Mini Grammar

가다 → 가세요.

있다 → 계시다 → 계세요

Once you know “계시다”, you can understand sentences like:

“선생님이 교실에 계세요.” (The teacher is in the classroom.)

How to never mix them up

At the door, look at just one thing: the person you are greeting.

• The other person is leaving → 안녕히 가세요
• The other person is staying → 안녕히 계세요

Let’s go back to that shop.

You, the customer, are leaving. The staff stays in the shop.

So you say “안녕히 계세요” to the one who stays, and the staff says “안녕히 가세요” to you, the one who leaves.

This one little scene explains almost everything you need to know when you say goodbye in Korean.

💬 From my classroom When I teach this, students almost always ask the same question:

“Teacher, what if both people are leaving?”

It is a very good question. — and the answer is simple.

If you are both leaving, you are both “going,” so you both just say “안녕히 가세요.” Easy!

Between friends

“안녕히 가세요 / 안녕히 계세요” is polite way to say goodbye in Korean.

With friends or close people, you can say it more casually.

• 잘 가! → I stay, and my friend leaves
• 잘 있어! → I leave, and my friend stays

This is not simply the polite form turned casual, but you can think of it as the friendly goodbye used in the same situations.

The rule is still the same: “가” for the one who leaves, “있어” for the one who stays.

Wait — some tricky places

There are places where this rule does not work so well: taxis, buses, and elevators.

A taxi driver stays in the car, but the car moves. In an elevator, only one person gets off.

In these moments, it is not clear who is “leaving” and who is “staying.”

At times like this, don’t worry about the rule.

Just use another goodbye.

“조심히 가세요” (go safely), “좋은 하루 보내세요” (have a good day), “먼저 갈게요” (I’ll go first), “감사합니다” (thank you)

— all of these sound natural.

And when you hang up the phone

Here is something interesting.

When Korean people end a phone call, they very often say

“네, 들어가세요” — literally, “okay, go inside.”

In one survey, more than six out of ten people said they use this.

But here is the thing: “들어가세요” is actually a command form (“go inside”), so standard Korean etiquette does not really recommend it.

To end a call politely, “안녕히 계세요”, “고맙습니다”, or “이만 끊을게요” (I’ll hang up now) are the “correct” choices.

So this is a great example of when the textbook’s answer and real Korean are a little different.

Learn both, and you will have both the “proper” Korean and the “real” Korean that people actually use.

💡 If you want to study more Korean explanations in Korean, 👉 [ check out this ]!

One last thing

Even for a simple say goodbye, Korean looks at whether the other person is leaving or staying.

It is not some grand cultural theory — think of it as a small habit of looking at the other person for a moment before you speak.

So next time you say goodbye in Korea, just check one thing: is the other person going, or staying?

If they go, say “안녕히 가세요.” If they stay, say “안녕히 계세요.”

Once you know this difference, your goodbyes will feel much more natural. 🥰

Does your language have different goodbyes for the person who leaves and the person who stays?

Tell me in the comments.

I would love to know.

🙋 Frequently asked

Q. The shop staff will go home soon too — so why “계세요”?

A: Because at the moment you say goodbye, the staff is still in the shop. It doesn’t matter that they leave later. Just look at this moment.

Q. If we both leave the café, who is staying?

A: Neither of you. You both leave the place you were in and go your own ways — so you can both say “안녕히 가세요” to each other.

Q. What do I say in a taxi?

A: The driver stays in the car, but the car moves, so it feels unclear. Here, “감사합니다” (thank you) or “조심히 가세요” (go safely) is easy and natural.

📝 Just remember this

One-line rule: if the other person goes, say “가세요”; if they stay, say “계세요.”

Coming next

Why do Koreans often want to know the age of someone they just met?

We’ll see how it connects to honorifics and titles — and when asking is fine, and when it can feel rude.

Good job! Bye and See you!

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