In South Korean, the concept of time is slightly different than in the United States. "Korean Time" refers to the widespread tardiness or, more specifically, the relaxed attitude with which Koreans approach appointment times (The Korea Herald). In the United States it is considered rude to be late to formal appointments, dates, and even meetings between friends. However, in South Korea, it is standard to be slightly late when it comes to meeting times. It is usually not necessary to give prior notice to a friend that you are going to be late, and being as late as an hour or more, is not uncommon. Furthermore, being late is so uncommon and normal that it is often that people use phrases like "You can come late too." Furthermore, some even give their friends a meeting time of an hour before they actually want to meet in order to them to get there roughly around the same time. This is in compensation for the habit of being late. In addition, the Korean attitude about time has affected the way people talk about time. For example, when friends talk about what time to meet, they usually use languages such as "what time, roughly?" The "roughly" is an indication that there is no stress on a specific meeting time.
There is no real consensus on why Koreans are so relaxed about times, but many believe that it has to do with how Korean ancestors organized time. For instance, starting at 11 p.m., the day was split into 12 units of approximately 2 hours each. This means that a meeting time that is set for the sixth hour would be any time between 9:01 a.m. and 10:59 a.m. Also, under a later organization of time, the 2 hour intervals were divided by 8 parts which were 15 minutes each. Some believe that this is the reason why Koreans are usually 15 minutes late.
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