고민
go-min · literally “Worry / deliberation”
♪ From the song 고민보다 Go (“Go Go”) by BTS, 2017
Situation: A Korean coworker tells you 저 이직 고민 중이에요, and you ask an AI tool what it means.
✕ What AI tells you
Translates it as 'I'm worried about changing jobs', so you assume they're stressed and try to comfort them.
Why it fails: 고민 covers both worrying and weighing a decision. With a choice attached (whether to change jobs, what to eat), it usually just means 'I'm thinking it over' — no distress implied. BTS's 2017 song title 고민보다 Go uses this everyday word.
✓ How it's used
If 고민 comes with a choice, read it as 'deciding'. If it comes with a problem, read it as 'worry'.
뭐 먹을지 고민 중이에요.
mwo meo-geul-ji go-min jung-i-e-yo
'I'm deciding what to eat' — a choice, not a worry
고민 좀 해 볼게요.
go-min jom hae bol-ge-yo
'Let me think about it' — in shops and at work it can also be a polite way of not saying yes yet
요즘 고민 있어?
yo-jeum go-min i-sseo
'Is something bothering you lately?' — here it really is a worry
Cultural nuance, in depth
Koreans use 고민 for decisions of every size, from lunch to marriage. 고민 상담 means talking a problem through with someone, and a 고민 상담소 is an advice column or counselling corner. Because the same word covers both, Korean speakers lean on the rest of the sentence: 뭐 할지, 어디 갈지 (what to do, where to go) signals a decision.
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