후배 (hubae): Someone Who Started After You — A Key Word in Korea's Senior-Junior Culture

후배

When you watch Korean dramas, there’s a word that always comes up whenever a company’s new employee or a school’s new student appears. It’s 후배 (hubae). The student who has just joined a club room, the employee nervously introducing themselves on their first day at work, the rookie athlete on a sports team watching the seniors carefully for cues — when Koreans call out to these people or introduce them, they naturally use the word “후배.”

후배 (hubae) means a person who set out on the same path later than you. It assumes a ‘shared field,’ like the same company, the same school, or the same hobby club. The opposite word is 선배 (seonbae) — a person who started before you. Put the two together and you get 선후배 (seonhubae), a word that’s a key to understanding Korea’s hierarchical culture.

Checking with the National Institute of Korean Language Dictionary

First, let’s look directly at the definition from the authoritative Basic Korean Dictionary published by the National Institute of Korean Language.

후배 (noun)

A person who started doing work in the same field later than oneself. (junior / júnior / 后辈, 晚辈, 新人)

A person who entered the same school later than oneself. (junior / júnior / 学弟, 学妹, 师弟, 师妹, 后辈) — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

Since the dictionary has no Portuguese translation, let me add our own: 후배 can roughly be rendered with the nuance of “calouro / novato (newcomer).” (our own translation)

Shall we also look at the actual example sentences listed in the dictionary?

후배와 가까이하다. (hubaewa gakkaihada.)

선후배 간의 친목을 위해 선배들이 모임을 준비하였다. (seonhubae gan-ui chinmogeul wihae seonbaedeuri moimeul junbihayeotda.)

저 후배 녀석이 좀 건방지네. (jeo hubae nyeoseogi jom geonbangjine.)

승규는 버릇없이 간들대는 후배를 호되게 야단쳤다. (seunggyuneun beoreudeopsi gandeuldaeneun hubaereul hodoege yadanchyeotda.) — National Institute of Korean Language, Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr)

The first one, “후배와 가까이하다,” is a plain expression meaning to be close with a junior. The second sentence shows the heartwarming situation of seniors preparing a gathering to build friendship with their juniors. The third, “저 후배 녀석이 좀 건방지네,” on the other hand, is the voice of a senior displeased with an ill-mannered junior. The fourth sentence is likewise a scene of a senior sharply scolding a junior who’s behaving rudely. As you can see, the word 후배 carries affection and responsibility, and sometimes even a scolding, all at once.

Example Sentences by Situation

Now let’s get a feel for it with some sentences we made ourselves.

① When introducing a new hire at your company

이 사람은 제 회사 후배예요. (i sarameun je hoesa hubae-yeyo.) “This person is a junior colleague at my company.”

This is a situation where you’re introducing a new employee to a coworker from another department during lunchtime. That single word ‘후배’ instantly conveys the relationship of “someone who joined the company later than me.”

② When looking after your juniors

후배들한테 밥 좀 사 줘. (hubaedeulhante bap jom sa jwo.) “Buy the juniors a meal, would you.”

In Korea, a senior buying a meal for their juniors is a long-standing custom. This sentence is a warm bit of nagging telling you, as a senior, to take care of your juniors.

③ When being humble about yourself

저는 아직 배울 게 많은 후배입니다. (jeoneun ajik baeul ge maneun hubae-imnida.) “I’m still a junior with a lot to learn.”

This is a way to introduce yourself modestly when greeting people as you join a new team. By defining yourself as a ‘후배,’ you also convey the feeling of “please take good care of me.”

Polite vs. Casual Speech, and Similar Words

Here’s the interesting part: 후배 (hubae) itself is neither honorific nor humble. It’s simply a noun that indicates a relationship, so the feeling changes depending on whether you write the sentence in polite or casual speech. Keep in mind, too, that when speaking directly to a junior, you’d call them by their name or title — it’s rare to actually call out “후배야! (hubae-ya!)”

A similar word is 동생 (dongsaeng), which means a younger sibling or a younger person. But there’s a decisive difference: 동생 is based on ‘age,’ while 후배 is based on ‘when you started.’ Even if someone is older than you, they can be your 후배 if they joined the company later.

Cultural Background

Korea’s senior-junior culture is a staple theme in dramas. Especially in campus stories or workplace stories, you’ll often see scenes of a senior cherishing and guiding a junior, or conversely, scenes of conflict caused by hierarchy. The scene of a senior offering warm encouragement to a junior at a new-student welcome party is practically a symbol of Korean coming-of-age dramas. The image of a senior patting a junior on the shoulder and telling them to share everything whenever things get hard shows the heart of Korean senior-junior relationships well: they divide people into upper and lower ranks, yet care and 정 (jeong, deep affection) flow within that structure.

Today’s Quiz

There’s someone who is 3 years older than me but joined our company for the first time this year. What can I call this person? ① 선배 (seonbae) ② 후배 (hubae) ③ 동생 (dongsaeng)

The answer is ② 후배 (hubae)! That’s because the standard that divides seniors from juniors isn’t age but ‘when you started.’

Definitions and example sentences are from the National Institute of Korean Language’s Basic Korean Dictionary (krdict.korean.go.kr); that portion of this post, including our translations, is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 KR.