South Korea dress code: Too hot for suits, but legs are taboo

Summer temperatures and a desire to save energy usually expended on air-conditioning have left many South Koreans hot and uncomfortable this year – but while attempts have been made to relax dress codes, many office workers find conservative clothing habits die hard.

It is probably the first time anyone has ever described a BBC office as heaven.

My friend sat sprawled on the Seoul bureau’s ancient couch, soaking up the tepid air-conditioning, sinking into a mass of newspapers with a sigh of pleasure.

“Seriously” he said, “this is Heaven.”

I would love to report that it was my stimulating conversation that prompted this accolade. It was not. It was the temperature.

My friend, you see, works for the government. And the air-conditioning in all government offices here remains resolutely off during South Korea’s sweaty summer months, until the temperature tops 28C (82F) – that is 28C inside the building. Or around 30C (86F) outside.

All a bid to combat electricity shortages, which last summer led to blackouts in major cities and red faces in the cabinet room.

And this is a government that not only prides itself on its green policies, it is also heading into a presidential election campaign – and so the summer rules are being applied more rigorously than ever this year.

In Seoul’s humid climate, that makes for some very uncomfortable (and it has been hinted, aromatic) working conditions for ministers and their staff. Hence my friend’s reluctance to leave the BBC’s rather tatty couch.

To get around the problem, the president has applied “summer dress codes” – a relaxation of the dark-suit-and-white-shirt uniform worn by almost every salaryman in Seoul.

In the president’s office, jackets and ties may now be discarded, and short-sleeved, coloured shirts are allowed. As are jeans as long as they are not blue. Or decorated. Or torn. The summer rules are nothing if not specific.

The president himself has been setting an example by conducting cabinet meetings in his shirt-sleeves – a shocking state of undress for a Korean president.