Traditional Korean shoes are sometimes worn for special occasions like 돌 (child’s first birthday) and are sometimes sold as souvenirs for foreigners.

By far the most commonly seen traditional Korean shoe is the 고무신, which means “rubber shoes” in Korean. People of high status and courtesans wore highly decorated 고무신, while people of lesser means wore the plain, white 고무신. Some Korean monks still wear the 고무신.

집신 is a type of straw sandal worn mostly by commoners. Commoners would often make their own 짚신 by intertwining pieces of straw together. The 짚신would often wear down and did not prevent mud, dirt, pebbles and water from entering the shoe, but it was the affordable footwear available to commoners.

장화 is a type of Korean boot worn by men, especially the palace guards. The exterior of some 장화 were made of leather and for others it was made of felt. The 장화 is often black in color with some sort of white stitching on the exterior.  Archaeologists believe that the 장화 was borrowed from the Chinese.

나막신 is a type of wooden Korean shoe worn during rainy days to avoid getting the feet wet. The 나막신 was supposedly first made by Dutch sailors who were shipwrecked near the Korean peninsula.