In Korea, people speak in either honorific form (존댓말) or informal form (반말). There is a strong emphasis of speaking to people in honorific speech if they are older, superior, or someone you do not know like workers in restaurants. Basically, the phrases should end in “–요”. There are also some words like age and birthday that have different terms depending on who you are talking to. If the honorific form is not utilized when it should be, it is seen as very rude and disrespectful. The elder/senior might even talk about how the person’s parents did not raise them properly.
The informal form is spoken to those of the same age, close friends, or seniors who allow for the casual form. It does not necessarily have to be the same age sometimes. I was told to speak to my cousin who is 7 years older than me in the informal form because we are of the same “level”. Furthermore, I speak to my parents in 반말 and they do not care if I continue speaking that way. I tried to speak to them in honorific form but it felt very awkward and distancing. Overall, I would say that it is best to speak to someone in formality as a default, unless they are super young, so that mistakes are not made.
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