Korean profanity

Profanity is referred to in the Korean language as 욕 (yok, insults or swearing). Several of these words have linguistic and historical significance. Various words have different origins. The Korean term for dog, 'gae,' for example, can used in everyday speech with no offensive connotation. When applied to a person, however, 'gae' and its variants (including 'gaeseki,' literally 'child of a dog') become strong curse words that that would not be appropriate for formal or polite conversation.

Because Korean, like Japanese, has an extensive system of grammaticalized politeness, it is possible to be insulting simply by using verb-forms that are too informal. This is extremely true in the case of being in different school years. In addition, speaking to elders and failing to use the correct verb-forms is harshly viewed.