“Good Luck” in Korean – Ways to wish someone success

In this article, we’ll talk about how to wish your friends “Good Luck” in Korean.

Your friends will be delighted to hear you say it, whether before an important job interview, an upcoming first date, or just during any regular school or workday.

Here’s a handy PDF Guide that you can take with you on the go:

Most of the Korean words in this article will be written in Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. While you can study the words in this article simply by reading their romanized versions, it will come in handy for you to be able to read Hangeul. It’s easy to learn Hangeul. In fact, you can learn it in just 90 minutes.

So, now let’s have a look at the many ways to say “Good Luck” in Korean.

How to say “Good Luck” in Korean

There are a few ways to wish someone good luck in Korean. You can say the Korean words 잘봐요 (jalbwayo), 잘봐 (jalbwa), or 화이팅 (hwaiting). What Korean word to use will depend on the context and the formality or who you’re talking with.

“Good Luck” in Korean (Formal)

The formal version of “Good Luck” in Korean is 잘보세요 (jal boseyo). You can use this with people you do not know (not the same age) or when talking to a large group.

Example:

공연 잘 하세요! (gongyeon jal haseyo!)

Have a good performance! / Good luck with the performance!

“Good Luck” in Korean (Standard)

You can say 잘봐요 (jalbwayo) if the person you want to wish good luck to isn’t your significant other or a close friend. Remember to add 요 (yo) at the end of the verb to make it more polite.

Example:

면접 잘봐요! (myeonjeop jalbwayo!)

Good luck with your job interview!

“Good Luck” in Korean (Informal)

To wish someone good luck, especially for an exam or a job interview, you can say 잘봐 (jalbwa). This is from the expression 잘 보다 which can be directly translated as “look carefully.” However, the verb 보다 in this expression 잘봐 means “to take/have/undergo” and not “to see/watch”.

So you can say “good luck” to a friend who’s going for an interview with 면접을 잘봐 ( myeonjeobeul jalbwa) and 시험을 잘봐 (siheomeul jalbwa) for a friend who’s going to take an exam.

Example:

오늘 시험 잘봐!  (oneul siheom jalbwa!)

Good luck with today’s exam!

This video shows How to Say “Good Luck” in Korean

Hwaiting in Korean

The popular phrase 화이팅 (hwaiting) is Konglish for “fighting.” Although it doesn’t directly translate into English, this word essentially means you wish the other person good luck.

화이팅 (hwaiting) is the version of “Good Luck” that you’re most likely to hear. It is a very informal phrase, so you might want to keep it to just friends.

Example:

우리 아들, 시험 화이팅! (uri adeul siheom hwaiting!)

Good luck with your exams, my son!

Why do Koreans say “fighting”?

Although the Korean word 화이팅 (hwaiting) is derived from the English word “fighting,” it does not necessarily imply actual fighting. Koreans say “hwaiting” when they want to wish a person good luck or give someone encouragement. It can also be used to say, “you can do it!”, “let’s go!” or as a way to cheer someone on.

Example:

항상 화이팅! (hangsang hwaiting!)

Good luck always!

How to Write “Good Luck” in Korean

This is how you write the Korean word for “Good Luck”:

Formal “Good Luck” in Korean: 잘보세요 (jal boseyo) 

Standard “Good Luck” in Korean: 잘봐요 (jalbwayo)

Informal “Good Luck” in Korean: 잘봐 (jalbwa) / 화이팅 (hwaiting)

While you may learn the words for “good luck” in Korean by reading their romanized forms, knowing how to read Hangeul is still the best way to learn and remember Korean words.

Korean “Good Luck” – Phrases and Words

Here are other useful phrases and words related to “Good Luck” in Korean.  Practice using them to wish or say good luck to others today!

“Good luck with your test” in Korean

If you want to wish someone good luck on a test or an exam, you can say 시험 잘 보세요 (siheom jal boseyo). This means “Good luck with your test” or “Do well on your exam.” Use this for formal settings or when talking to someone you don’t know.

A more informal way of saying this is 시험 잘 봐 (siheom jal bwa).

Example:

토익 시험 잘 보세요. (toik siheom jal boseyo.)

Good luck with your TOEIC test.

내일 시험 잘 봐! (naeil siheom jal bwa!)

Good luck with your test tomorrow!

“Good luck with your interview” in Korean

If you know someone who’s going to go through a job interview, you can tell them 면접 잘 보세요 (myeonjeop jal boseyo), which means good luck with your interview or have a good interview. If you want to say it more casually with friends, you can say 면접 잘 봐 ( myeonjeop jal bwa).

Example:

대학 면접 잘 봐. (daehak myeonjeop jal bwa.)

Good luck with your college interview.

“Best of Luck” in Korean

If you want to greet someone the best of luck, you can say 행운을 빌어요(haenguneul bireoyo). For a more casual or informal version, you can say 행운을 빌어 ( haenguneul bireo) instead. 

Example:

당신의 행운을 빌어요.  (dangsinui haenguneul bireoyo.)

Best of luck.

내일 행운을 빌어! (naeil haenguneul bireo!)

Good luck tomorrow!

“All the best” in Korean

The phrase “all the best” in Korean is 행운을 빌어요 (haenguneul bireoyo). It’s the same phrase you use with greeting someone with the best of luck.

However, if you want to say “I wish you all the best” to someone, you can say 행운을 빌게요 (haenguneul bilgeyo).

“Luck” in Korean

Luck in Korean can be expressed in a few different ways.

The word “luck” in Korean can be expressed as 운 (un).

Example:

그는 모든 일에 운이 없어요. (geuneun modeun ire uni eopseoyo.)

He has no luck in everything he does.

Luck can also be expressed with the Korean words 좋은 운 (joeun un) and 행운 (haengun). These two words mean “good luck.”

행운 (haengun) can also mean “good fortune.”

Example:

행운을 빌어주세요. (haenguneul bireojuseyo)

Please wish me luck.

“Lucky” in Korean

The Korean word for “lucky” is 운이 좋다 (uni jota). “Lucky” can also be expressed as 행운이다 (haengunida).

Both 운이 좋다 (uni jota) and 행운이다 (haengunida) also means “fortunate.”

Example:

오늘 운이 좋았어요. (oneul uni joasseoyo.)

I was lucky today.

너를 만난 건 행운이야. (neoreul mannan geon haenguniya.)

I was lucky to meet you.

“Good fortune” in Korean

Good fortune in Korean is 행운 (haengun).

Example:

그의 행운이 부러워요. (geuui haenguni bureowoyo.)

I envy his good fortune.

“You can do it” in Korean

The encouraging phrase “You can do it” is 할 수 있어요 (hal su isseoyo) in Korean.

You can add 당신은 (dangsineun) before 할 수 있어요 (hal su isseoyo). However, 할 수 있어요 (hal su isseoyo) is commonly used. For informal, you can say 넌 할 수 있어 (neon hal su isseo).

[highlight-box link=”https://www.90daykorean.com/korean-phrases/” text=”Want more Korean phrases? {Click here} for a complete list!”

Wrap Up

Now that you’ve learned how to say “good luck” in Korean, we encourage you to go out there and use them! Good luck! Er, we mean, 화이팅 (hwaiting)!

Once you’ve learned “Good luck” in Korean, you can proceed to other useful phrases like “Good Morning” in Korean, “Goodnight” in Korean, and How To Say “Good Job” In Korean. 

Want to learn more about the Korean language? You can check out the Inner Circle Course, which is part of the 90 Day Korean membership program. It’s a structured course that will help you learn Korean. You’ll be having 3-minute long conversations in Korean if you follow our structured course.