You're probably right, I should have changed the headline here (I didn't write the story), but I found it so interesting and worth sharing that I totally not thought about it. Also the link to "reverse culture shock" in the story added a reason for me to share it here (doesn't always have to be about tech, I personally enjoy non-tech stories on HN a lot, because my whole life is tech already :) )

I think it's fair to say that if you don't specify a Korea, you mean South Korea. That's the colloquial assumption.

For tech and product, sure - there's no alternative. For travel and geography I don't think I remember a case of it not being specific. Maybe that;s a UK habit.