Never write a living person's name in red ink

Don't write someone's name in red ink — cards, forms, signatures, anything — it's traditionally reserved for the deceased and reads as wishing them harm.

Korea SocialstrictUpdated September 2, 2026

Use black or blue ink any time you’re writing someone’s name, whether it’s a card, a form, a nametag, or a signature line next to their name. Red is fine for other uses (highlighting, decoration, correcting your own work) — it’s specifically a name that’s the issue.

If you’re handed a red pen and asked to sign or write near someone’s name, switch pens rather than assume it’s fine because it’s casual or informal.

This is one of the more universally known taboos — even younger, less traditional Koreans who shrug off other superstitions tend to still avoid this one.
It extends to your own name too — don’t sign your own name in red either, the association isn’t limited to writing about other people.

Why it matters

Names of the dead were traditionally recorded in red ink on ancestral tablets and funeral registers in Korea (and more broadly across East Asia), so using red for a living person's name inverts that association directly. It's not limited to formal documents — the same superstition applies to something as casual as signing a birthday card or writing a name tag. Many older Koreans react strongly to it even when they know it was unintentional.

Never write a living person's name in red ink

Why it matters

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