Why Koreans rarely hit the beach without rash guards

Vacationers crowd Naksan Beach in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, Saturday. Yonhap

Park, an office worker in her 30s based in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, bought a new rash guard for her vacation to Bali last week. A fan of water sports who enjoys beaches and hotel pools, she said she already owns several rash guards and swimsuits, but is eager to add more to her collection.

At the beach in Bali, filled with sunbathers from around the world, she realized that every time she heard Korean spoken, those beachgoers were clad in long-sleeved rash guards.

“You could almost identify Koreans just by their rash guards,” she said, “Having traveled to beaches around the world, I’ve noticed that Koreans seem to be the only ones who regularly wear rash guards in the water. I have bikinis and other more revealing swimwear, but still prefer to wear rash guards,” she said.

As Park noted, from Southeast Asia to Europe, Koreans are often easy to spot on beaches with their matching, brightly colored rash guards.

Children in rash guards splash around at a water park set up at Seongbuk Elementary School in Seoul, July 28, 2024. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-bin

While rash guards are common among surfers worldwide, Korea is the only country where nonsurfers routinely wear them for aesthetic and practical reasons.

Posts on Reddit and Quora regularly ask questions like, “Why do Koreans swim in clothes?” In much of the West, rash guards are rarely seen outside of surfing circles, and some hotel pools even prohibit them. But for Koreans, they have become the default beachwear.

According to KakaoStyle, which runs the shopping platform Zigzag, searches for “rash guard” between June 27 and July 10 surged 40 percent compared to the same period last year, with sales climbing 35 percent. In contrast, women’s bikini sales rose by just 5 percent.

As the summer vacation season approaches, rash guards dominate Naver, Korea’s leading portal, taking all top 10 spots in the beachwear category.

Swimwear trends in Korea typically shift every decade, but since their rise in the mid-2010s, rash guards have become a staple wardrobe item.

The trend is driven by both practical and cultural factors. Korean consumers often cite shielding themselves from harmful UV rays as a primary reason. Unlike Western preferences that favor tanned skin, many Koreans value pale skin and actively avoid sun exposure. Rash guards, with their strong UV protection, align perfectly with this preference.

There is also a strong element of modesty.

“Many Koreans feel uncomfortable in revealing swimwear because of others’ gaze,” said Lee Eun-hee, a professor of consumer studies at Inha University. Online reviews frequently mention how rash guards “cover the body well,” reducing anxiety about appearance and social scrutiny.

Experts also note a shift from striving for bikini bodies to prioritizing comfort and freedom.

“The rise of rash guards reflects a growing embrace of freedom and convenience in everyday habits and style choices,” said Koo Jung-woo, a sociology professor at Sungkyunkwan University.