[WHY] Why Koreans love the floor: The cultural secret behind ignoring sofas

For many Koreans, a sofa is used as a backrest rather than a seating option. Why do Koreans prefer sitting on the ground, and why do they still buy sofas if they don't sit in them?

Actor Gong Yoo sits on the floor using the sofa as a back rest. [ILOOM]

Foreigners tend to be confused by how Koreans use sofas. As more reality TV shows following the daily lives of Korean celebrities gain popularity, it quickly becomes clear that a sofa in a Korean person's living room is not just for sitting down, but for using as a backrest.

This unusual behavior has been highlighted by foreigners in different content across social media. U.S. YouTuber Oliver and his Korean wife Manim currently live in the United States and create videos and cartoons, respectively, about their life navigating between cultures together. One day, Manim spotted Oliver on the floor reclining against a sofa in their living room. She created a cartoon about the scene, saying that she felt like she was "married to a Korean."

"Sitting on the sofa is uncomfortable," Oliver says in the cartoon. "Don't you know that sitting on the floor is a lot more comfortable? Sofas are meant to be used as a backrest."

Koreans are used to sitting cross-legged on a floor. This was not an option back in the day when a sofa was not a common to have at home. However, those days are long gone, and many Korean living rooms boast some of the most fancy, plush sofas available.

A photo of U.S. YouTuber Oliver sitting on the floor while watching TV, taken by his wife, known as Manim, uploaded on Manimtoon Instagram [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Then why is it that many Koreans still opt to sit on a hard floor and use sofas as a backrest? Do Koreans really consider hard floors to be more comfortable?

Many say that sitting on the floor is an unconscious behavior that turned into a habit.

"I feel cozier and at home when I sit on the floor," Kim Hee-sung, 27, said when looking back on his floor-sitting experiences. "I think it's because I have fond memories of my family sitting on the floor, chitchatting and sharing a meal together, especially during the holidays."

Lee Eu-gene, 29, has an expensive dining table. Instead of having meals at the table, however, she always brings food to what's commonly known as a "coffee table" to eat while sitting on the floor and leaning her back, of course, against the sofa.

Boy band NCT's Doyoung leans against his sofa during an episode of MBC's ″I Live Alone″ (2013-). [SCREEN CAPTURE]

What brings Koreans down to the floor?

One main reason is the ondol, a traditional Korean floor heating system. The word ondol is a combination of Chinese characters on and dol, which means warm stone.

The flat stones, also known as gudeuljang, are installed under floors, and transmit the heat generated in the agungi, or kitchen fireplace, to a room.

Though the heating system is centered on the floor, it warms up the whole room due to convection, in which warmth spreads throughout an area as heat rises. Ondol became a widespread heating system in Korea during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), but its creation dates back to much earlier. The warmth focused on the floor naturally lured people to spend more time there, enforcing a floor-based culture as the warm floors became the center of the house and people's activities.

Image of the structure of ondol [NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF KOREA]

Nowadays, the traditional ondol system exists in modernized versions like hydronic radiant floor heating systems, continuing the Koreans' love of warm floors.

When Shin Young-ok, a 68-year-old Korean woman living in New Zealand, was building a house there, she purchased ondol panels from Korea and installed them inside one of her living rooms.

"I had underfloor heating in my old house, but that wasn't hot enough. I wanted that feeling of sitting and lying on a hot ondol floor so I decided to ship the panels from Korea. The living room is now called a 'ondol bang,'" she said. Bang means the word room in Korean. "My family naturally gathers in this 'ondol bang' during the winter and eats in here as well."

The Korean reliance on ondol also appeared in the late 20th century, when homes for the upper and middle classes demanded a return of ondol in their radiator-facilitated homes.

"The cold floor was not suitable to the Korean sedentary lifestyle," Prof. Lee Keun-hye of Gachon University's Division of Architecture said in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily. "[The return of the ondol] was a result of the readapting to the old Korean lifestyle."

Voters take off their shoes to enter the April 10 general election voting site in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, on April 10. [NEWS1]

Removing one's shoes when entering a residence is another Korean custom that explains the Korean sedentary lifestyle.

"The ondol system was perfectly suited to keeping the floors clean, as the system was built outside of the room," wrote Prof. Cho Jae-mo of Kyungpook National University's Department of Architecture in his book "A floor-based house in the era of western-styled furniture (translated)" released in 2020, covering Koreans' sedentary lifestyle.

A common Korean saying goes, "The best way to relieve fatigue is to lie on a warm floor with your back against it."

In the Korean saying, the verb jijida, meaning warming one's body, specifically indicates such actions. Is there a sentimental reason?

It is true that ondol is one of the main factors enriching the Korean floor-based culture.

However, Professor Lee points out that "it's better to understand the Korean floor-based culture through numerous experiences and memories derived from ondol, rather than simply understanding that ondol was the cause."

"We have to look at the floor with a daily perspective, rather than an architectural perspective, when understanding the Korean relationship with the floor," Professor Lee said.

A scene from cable network tvN's TV series ″Reply 1988″ (2015-2016) where characters sit around a coffee table in a living room to study. [CJ ENM]

In other words, the sedentary lifestyle of Koreans is an accumulation of hundreds of years of experience, which cannot be easily changed.

For Koreans, the floor is more than just a surface; it is synonymous with being a "social space" defined by individual activities and experiences, according to Professor Lee.

Koreans have a different understanding of the floor compared to Westerners.

"Westerners see the floor as a single architectural factor like walls and ceilings," Professor Lee said. "But for Koreans, they recognize the floor itself as a space."

A painting, titled ″Seodang,″ by artist Kim Hong-do (1745-1810), one of the greatest artists of the Joseon era (1392-1910), shows a classroom where the students and their teacher sit on the floor. [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

As a result, the floor is perceived as "multifunctional" space for Koreans, as they define space by activities.

In Western cultures, each room is named after its function, such as the kitchen, living room, and bedroom. In Korea, each room in a hanok, a traditional Korean house, is named after its location. As floors are connected to space in Korean culture, the activities that Koreans pursue on the floor define the function of the room, making it "subjective" and "flexible."

"That's why Koreans tend to sit on the floor though they have a sofa, as they perceive floors as an area that can carry out various activities such as laying down and sitting," Professor Lee said. "Depending on the person's action, a single space can become a [dining room] when eating, or a bedroom when sleeping."

"So for Koreans, floors are a regarded as a [social] space." How do Koreans sit on the floor?

One of the most common ways Koreans sit on the floor is the yangbandari, or sitting with crossed legs.

Children seen sitting in a crossed-leg posture, or yangbandari, from a scene of film ″Scattered Night″ (2019). [CINESOPA]

The name comes from the traditional ruling class, called yangban, during the Joseon Dynasty. The yangban valued dignity and manners and were mainly seen in this sitting position.

Due to the origin of its name, the position is perceived as a polite gesture when sitting with other people, especially the elderly. Koreans naturally learn to sit in this cross-legged position when entering a space without their shoes, as it has been embedded in Korean culture for hundreds of years.

"You can often see people sitting with crossed legs on a chair or sofa, as if they are sitting on the floor," Professor Lee said, adding that as the position is uncomfortable while sitting on furniture, Koreans eventually end up sitting on the floor.

Most crew members of the American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson sit crossed-leg while experiencing Korean traditional culture and traditional Buddhism culture. During the zen meditation session held in November last year, a monk told crew members to sit comfortably as some seemed to be uncomfortable in the crossed leg posture. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Why do Koreans still purchase sofas?

Though Korea has a short history regarding Western furniture, the sofa has now become a necessary piece of furniture in a Korean living room, regardless whether it is used for its intended function.

According to the February report by home interior platform Ohouse, run by Bucketplace, the sofa was always listed in the top five furniture purchases from the platform from 2019 to 2023.

Though the sofa has become a necessity, the history of its fixture in Korean living rooms isn't that long.

Western furniture spread slowly throughout the country in the 1960s, following the government's new housing initiatives to build apartment complexes based on Westernized spatial organizations. It was not until the late 1980s and 1990s that Westernized furniture, especially sofas, started to become more widespread.

As modernization started influencing Korean society at the turn of the 20th century, sofas were considered a luxury item, as only wealthier households were able to purchase them. But as the furniture became more affordable, it became a staple in the living room, positioned opposite a TV screen.

Image of furniture company Alloso's Querencia line, designed by Italian architect and designer Claudio Bellini [ALLOSO]

However, owning a sofa and sitting on it are two different things for Koreans.

Domestic furniture companies try to address this by coming up with different designs for sedentary sofas and chairs. An employee at a Korean furniture company's product planning team, who asked for anonymity, said his team "always considers the fact that Koreans have a tendency to sit on the floor, despite having a sofa when designing a product."

Global furniture companies are also localizing their products to Korean tastes, after witnessing Koreans' love for floors.

Claudio Bellini, a renowned Italian architect and designer, released a sofa edition called Querencia in Korea with furniture company Alloso in 2019. The sofa edition has a low-rise design and a spacious seating area that can be moved according to how the space is used.

However, such designs may not appeal to everyone.

"I already have a sofa, and sitting down on the floor with my back against it is comfortable enough, so why would I spend money to buy one more piece of furniture just to sit on the floor?" said Lee Ji-yon, a 36-year-old living in Seoul. "This position is a rule of thumb. If you are a real Korean, you'll know it and won't be able to get out of it."

BY KIM JI-YE [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]