Customers are seen resting their bare feet on cafe chairs. This image is not directly related to the article. [Newsis]
Customers are seen resting their bare feet on cafe chairs. This image is not directly related to the article. [Newsis]

Photos showing Korean tourists eating at a restaurant in Taiwan with their feet up on chairs have gone viral after a local resident posted them online, stirring controversy.

A Taiwanese user, identified only as A, posted the images on the social media platform Threads on Tuesday, writing: "There are many Korean customers at Kaiyu Zisuan in New Taipei. This is what's happening at the two tables in front of me."

One photo shows a young woman sitting at a table with one leg crossed over the other, her bare feet exposed as she eats. A man who appears to be her partner sits across from her.

Another photo shows two Korean women in black T-shirts eating brunch. One has removed her shoes and is sitting cross-legged on the chair, her bare feet fully visible.

A said the photos were taken at a public breakfast spot and stressed that the post was not meant to target any particular nationality. "I just want to remind people of dining etiquette," she wrote.

The post drew more than 1,400 likes on Threads before spreading to other online communities, sparking debate among users in South Korea and abroad over dining manners.

One South Korean user called it "bad manners that I also find uncomfortable." "Many Koreans don't seem to realize this is rude. Please, Koreans, stop doing this. It's embarrassing to see at restaurants, airports and particularly on planes," the user wrote.

Another user who said they run a cafe added: "There are really a lot of people who sit cross-legged barefoot or put their bare feet up on low tables, just like in the photos."

Similar reactions came from Taiwan. One Taiwanese user wrote that they had witnessed the same behavior twice at Din Tai Fung near Taipei 101, and that both times the customers were Korean. "They took off their shoes and sat cross-legged, or pulled their legs up and rested their feet on the seat while eating. I was very shocked," the user wrote.

Another local user said Koreans "really seem to like sitting this way — it might be a cultural habit," adding that they had seen the same behavior at cafes in Fukuoka, Japan.

However, some pushed back against generalizing the behavior as a national trait. One Korean user said: "Most Koreans also consider this very rude. Please don't develop a prejudice that all Koreans behave this way."


bbo@heraldcorp.com