photographer, visual artist and designer.

Korean 101: 어장관리 Managing the fishery?

Barely a few weeks into our Korean language programme, a classmate who enjoys playing the field talked about breaking up with his girlfriend because he couldn’t take the long distance relationship.

Somehow the term 어장관리 was brought up in class, and our form teacher was surprised to learn how we know about the term as level two students. Apparently it is not difficult, if you watch a lot of Korean dramas.

어장관리 is a term used to describe the management of fisheries, but in recent years, it used to describe how someone dates a few people at the same time without getting into a serious relationship (a.k.a cookie jarring). Or someone who leads people on, also known as breadcrumbing. I am not absolutely sure, but this also seems to be the reason why there are Koreans out there who text you at the very last minute to say that they are not free to meet up.

당신은요? 어장관리 잘 하는 편이세요? And you? Are you good at playing the field?