Just about every webtoon and K-drama I enjoy has at least two of the following features:

• A plethora of misunderstandings and ill-timed arrivals
• Quirky characters and mysterious pasts
• Beautifully dramatic confessions of angst and love

Usually, they have all three. But the last feature, confessions (고백 / go-baek) of angst and love, is particularly fun because it can happen in so many different ways.

All right, so let’s talk about how to confess your love in Korean. There are three main categories of confessing: liking, loving, and “seeing” someone in a romantic or sexual light. And to make matters more interesting, there are also direct and indirect ways of confessing.

For those of you who can’t read hangeul, I’ve written the phonetic pronunciation of the Korean words where necessary. Shall we begin? Continue reading →