How to Say Hello in Korean (Beyond 안녕하세요)

"Hello" in Korean is 안녕하세요 (annyeonghaseyo) — the polite, all-purpose greeting that works at any time of day with almost anyone. With close friends it shortens to 안녕 (annyeong), and in formal settings it stretches to 안녕하십니까 (annyeonghasimnikka). Literally, all three ask the same lovely question: "Are you at peace?"

First, relief: Korean has no "good morning / good afternoon / good evening" treadmill. 안녕하세요 covers 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. alike. What Korean does have is a politeness dial and a set of situational greetings that natives reach for constantly — and which textbooks bury in chapter nine. Here are the seven you'll actually hear.

The core three: 안녕 at every politeness level

The bow matters as much as the word. A small nod accompanies 안녕하세요 between equals; a deeper bow goes up the hierarchy. Between friends, 안녕 comes with a wave, no bow at all. If you only remember one thing: greet first, greet slightly too politely, and nobody will ever be offended.

The greetings Koreans actually use all day

밥 먹었어요? — the greeting that's about rice

밥 먹었어요? (bap meogeosseoyo?, "Have you eaten?") is a genuine Korean hello, left over from harder decades when the question was literal. Nobody expects a meal report — 네, 먹었어요 ("yes, I ate") is the whole ritual. Answering with your actual lunch menu is a classic foreigner move; charming, but a move.

오랜만이에요 — long time no see

For reunions: 오랜만이에요 (oraenmanieyo), casual 오랜만이야. K-dramas love this one for airport scenes and awkward ex encounters — listen for it in every reunion episode.

여보세요 — hello, but only on the phone

여보세요 (yeoboseyo) means hello exclusively when answering a phone call. Say it to someone's face and you're doing a bit. Text conversations don't use it either — DMs open with ㅎㅇ (shorthand for 하이, "hi") or just the message itself.

처음 뵙겠습니다 — meeting someone for the first time

Literally "I see you for the first time" — the formal first-meeting opener, usually chained with a name and 잘 부탁드립니다 ("please take good care of me"). Job interviews, meeting the in-laws, new teams. Between young people it's often skipped for a simple 안녕하세요 + name.

Which greeting, when? A cheat sheet

The exit: 안녕 also means goodbye (with a catch)

Between friends, 안녕 covers both ends of a meeting — hello when you arrive, bye when you leave. The polite goodbyes, though, split in two based on who's moving: 안녕히 가세요 (annyeonghi gaseyo, "go in peace") to the person leaving, and 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi gyeseyo, "stay in peace") when you're the one walking out. Shop staff will sing 안녕히 가세요 at your back all over Seoul; if you leave a shop, you answer with 계세요, not 가세요 — you're leaving, they're staying. Mixing them up is harmless and instantly recognized as a learner move, so consider it a rite of passage.

And one more greeting that doubles as a conversation starter: 잘 지냈어요? (jal jinaesseoyo?, "have you been well?") — the follow-up that turns a hello into an actual exchange. Greetings open the door; this walks through it.