안녕하세요!
All seven members wrote a Happy New Year message for ARMY, who have been eagerly waiting for BTS’s first return in four years. Since each message was fairly short, I thought it would be nice to look at them more closely and pick up some useful Korean words and phrases along the way.
The first message was from SUGA:
새해 (new year) 복 (luck, blessings) 많이 (a lot) 받으세요 (please receive) 아미!! (ARMY!!)
새로운 (new) 해가 (year) 다시 (once again) 시작되었습니다 (has begun)
올해도 (this year too) 대박 나시길 (may it be amazing) 기원합니다 (I sincerely hope)
보고 싶었습니다 (I missed you) 올해 (this year) 즐겁게 (happily, joyfully) 함께 합시다 (let’s be together)
사랑합니다!! (I love you!!)
조만간 (soon) 만나요!! (see you / let’s meet)
Translation:
ARMY, I wish you lots of good luck in the new year!!
A brand-new year has begun once again.
I hope this year also brings you nothing but amazing things.
I missed you.
Let’s make this year a happy one together.
I love you!!
See you soon!!
In the United States, people say “Happy New Year” to celebrate the first day of January. In Korea, however, we celebrate two New Years, one based on the solar calendar and another on the lunar calendar. On both occasions, we say this to family, relatives, friends, and acquaintances: 새해 복 많이 받으세요 (seh-hae bohk mahn-yi baht-eu-seh-yo). If you say this phrase on New Year’s Day, your Korean friends will definitely be impressed.
SUGA also uses the word 대박 (dae-bahk), which can carry many meanings, including super awesome, unbelievable, or incredibly impressive. If you watch K-dramas, you will often hear characters say this word to express surprise, excitement, or sometimes even shocking disappointment, depending on their tone.
Another phrase from SUGA’s message that you can try using is 보고 싶었다 (boh-goh sihp-uht-dah) to the Korean friend that you haven’t seen in a while. In his letter, he uses the formal and honorific form 보고 싶었습니다 (boh-goh sihp-uht-seum-nih-dah), so you should adjust the level of politeness depending on who you are speaking to.
One word I personally use quite often is 조만간 (joh-mahn-gahn), which means soon or in the near future. You can use it just like SUGA did by saying 조만간 만나요 (joh-mahn-gahn mahn-nah-yo, see you soon) or 조만간 봐요 (joh-mahn-gahn bwha-yo, also meaning see you soon). I
f you try using the words and phrases we just went over with your Korean friends, they might look at you and say 대박, haha.
조만간 또 봐요!