NCT 127 member JOHNNY opened up about a lot of his likes, dislikes personal habits and navigating the tricky nomenclature and etiquette rules in his adopted home country in this week’s debut episode of his JOURNEY with JOHNNY podcast. In the first half-hour episode, the Chicago born-and-bred K-pop superstar opened up with the obvious, saying his favorite color is pink, as evidenced by his currently pink hair.
His general mood is “kind of chill,” and as a genial Midwesterner, he said he learned pretty quickly that while “people in America are really good at small talking,” Koreans tend to avoid that kind of empty chit-chat. And while he admitted that talking about himself this much was difficult, the 31-year-old singer seemed comfortable doing a deep dive into the tricky politics of politeness in South Korea, as well as some customs he hasn’t been able to adopt to yet.
“One thing that I really can’t understand in the culture of Korea is the ‘sauna culture,’” he said. “Starting from an early age, Korean people are introduced to saunas, so they go very often with family. Then as you go into school, you start going with your friends. And me, having went to school in America and then coming to Korea, and then the guys going, ‘Yo, you want to go to a sauna?’ I’m just kind of like, ‘I don’t want to see you naked.’”
Harkening back to the etiquette bit, JOHNNY said naked saunas are part of the culture in the country and a good way to get close to people, but it’s just not for him. “Not a fan. But, yeah, that’s a huge thing in Korea, saunas [aka “Jjimjilbang” in Korean],” he said, noting that Korean spas are OK with him, because you get to keep your clothes on.
“I don’t know why, but Koreans really love to get a good sweat on,” he explained. “And that’s what a Jjimjilbang is for. But not for me. I like room temperature and my clothes on with other people.”
As for some other tips for visiting South Korea, he said try not to make people uncomfortable, adhere to the very detailed rules for recycling and try to avoid using impolite or too casual language.
NCT 127 released their seventh studio album, BLINGY, last month and they are slated to kick off their fifth tour, Neo City: The Redline, at KSPO Dome in Seoul today (Sept. 18).
Watch JOHNNY talk sauna culture on the debut episode of JOURNEY with JOHNNY below.
