Cars in Korea only come in three colors: white, black and silver. Everywhere I look, there are only white, black and silver cars. I have no idea how Koreans identify their vehicles at car parks and on the street. It kinda blows my mind a little.
Once in a blue moon I will see a red or blue car, but these experiences are very few and far between. I asked my students about this phenomenon. They said Koreans, as a whole, are very modest and don't really like to draw attention to themselves. They think of themselves as one unit, rather than individuals and their vehicles reflect that idea.
My students told me there used to be a law that members of the military were only allowed to purchase Korean-made vehicles, so as to foster country pride and solidarity. That makes sense, but I still feel like a person should have a choice if they're spending their own money.
They also told me they were absolutely forbidden from owning red cars because, statistically speaking, red cars were more dangerous, according to the Korean government. The military didn't want to deal with any of their soldiers getting into accidents. These rules don't apply anymore, but it's still an unspoken rule that it's best to purchase a vehicle from a Korean brand.
I suppose these reasons make sense once one begins to start thinking like a Korean, but still, how does one find their car after a day of shopping???
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