In the Korean language, the subject is quite often omitted. In one-to-one conversations, both speakers know who they talk to, and so Koreans believe that it is unnecessary to refer who is the subject.  Therefore, the word ‘you’ is not commonly used in conversations, particularly when meeting people for the first time. If you look up  ‘you’ in a English-Korean dictionary, you can find the direct translated word ‘당신’. However, this word is generally used for someone who is in a relationship with or someone who wants to express anger to the other party. Therefore, it is critical not to use this word easily otherwise it could be considered highly discourteous.

The first time you meet someone, after asking him or her for their name, you may call them by his or her full name or only their first name followed by 씨 (ssi) to indicate respect. For example, if you want to call someone, whose name is김민수, which consists of the last name 김(Kim) and the first name 민수(Minsu), you can call 김민수 씨 or 민수 씨. If the person that you meet is a close friend or a child, you usually use the word ‘너’ : it is an informal form of ‘you’. As this word is regarded as very informal, people do not easily use this word – even to someone who is far younger than them – as it is important for Koreans to display respect towards people, especially if they do not know very well the person who they are talking to.

Another way of calling people is by using work position titles instead of calling someone by using the personal pronoun ‘you’. For example if you are with someone at your work place, you can call him by his or her title such as director or manager. You usually attach님 at the end of the title to indicate respect. If you are not sure what his or her title is when you meet someone for the first time, you can introduce yourself with your position or exchange your business cards at the first meeting.