[Yonsu]

Hmmm. Well, the cultures may be a bit similar because of diffusion and such (and don't all people think Chinese, Korean, and Japanese cultures are all somewhat similar?) but they are rather different. The main factor would be because Japan was isolated from the mainland and had time to develop by itself.

Like MMM said, cheating is a pretty serious issue in Korea. It's really as MMM says; cheating isn't exactly discouraged. Students view it as a way to help other kids. If teachers find the person is cheating, the punishment ranges from getting hit on the head to having the whole class kneel and raise their hands, etc. (Yeah, hitting kids in school isn't exactly criminal in Korea, or any other country, I believe, unless it becomes abuse. ^^;;; ) But if not, then oh well. The mentality of the teacher is that because they also cheated when they were little, they shouldn't be completely horrid against their students because that would be hypocritical.

Also, students usually cheat on regular school tests because the grades don't matter very much towards getting accepted into university. The entrance exams count a lot, so they wouldn't be caught dead cheating during that critical examination.

Aaaaand, there is the whole senior student/junior student/sempai thingie that goes on as well. I don't think Japan and Korea differ much in that aspect. There's a lot of pressure for the junior students to please the senior, and 'unspoken rules' for them to obey.

Koreans might come off as cruder to foreigners, especially in huge metropolitan places where people don't say 'excuse me' every time they bump, elbow, or step on someone else. (Otherwise by the end of the day, their voices would be hoarse!) But if you really talk to people, they really are so sweet. People in general are extremely courteous to visitors. I'm not sure about teens, since, well, they are teens, but from my experience, people try to give the best impression they can.

Koreans are extremely interested in foreigners, like Japanese. XD It might be a bit intimidating when a crowd of girls start squealing and pointing and waving saying, "Hi! How are you?! I speak English! Where are you from?"

I don't know if this applies to all Asian cultures, but Koreans have this way of circling around the point when talking. They expect the other person to know what they are actually saying. (It's pretty frustrating for Westerners, hahaha... It's viewed as rude to go straight to the point for Koreans.) I don't know if this applies to Japanese as well, however.

I hoped this helped~ ^^;;