Two men went to a meat store. The first man told the meat seller, “Sanggil, I want a pound of meat!”. The seller gave him a pound of meat. The second man then said, “ Mr Park, I want a pound of meat.” The seller gave him a piece of meat that weights more than a pound. When the first man protested, the seller said, “These are different deals. You bought the meat from Sanggil, while he bought the meat from Mr Park.”

A doctor once advised his patient that if he ate beef, his illness would be cured. It so happened that the man smelt roast beef and was cured at once. The man who was roasting the beef then asked him to pay, saying that the smell had made him well. They argued and, unable to settle their differences, brought the matter before a judge. The judge then asked for some coins. Jingling the coins, the judge turned to the beef roaster and said, “He only smelt the beef, so you only need to listen to the coins.”

A poor scholar took his wife’s borrowed money to try his luck as a peddler. He found that rice cakes were selling at a penny each in certain place, a penny for two at another, and a penny for three at yet another. He reasoned that if he were to buy the cheapest rice cakes and sell them where they fetched the highest prices, he would make large profits. So, he bought as many cakes as possible at the lowest price and went to the place where the most expensive rice cakes were sold. But on reaching the place after a three-day journey, he found that all his rice cakes had spoilt. In the end, he threw all the rice cakes into the river.

A woman asked a witch to find out the sex of her unborn baby. After sprinkling rice gains and screaming a strange chant, the witch announce, “ On behalf of the mother, I declare the unborn to be a girl.” The family members who heard this frowned their disappointment. Seeing that, the switch added, “But on behalf of the father, and if I did not get it wrong, I declare the unborn to be a boy.”

A certain general always listened to his wife. One day he gave an order to his men, “Those who listened to their wives were to gather under the red flag, and the rest to gather under the blue flag.” All the men stood under the red flag except one soldier who stood under the blue flag. Seeing that, the general exclaimed, “All are husband who had listen to their wives, except for one.” The lone soldier replied, “Sir, I’ve been warned by my wife against mixing with others. She said they will certainly talk about women when they’re in a group.”

A village schoolteacher once said to the class that he would reward anyone who could get him to leave the room. A clever student said, “Sir, I can’t do that. But if you are outside, I can make you come in.” The teacher left the room and said, “Now make me come in.” “See, I’ve already got you to leave the room,” said the boy.

Source : “Jokes, Comic Tales and Proverbs from Korea” complied and retold by Chong Kum Fatt. Published by Asiapac Books Pte Ltd.