Respecting Ancestors (Jae Sa)
Korea is a country that is hugely influenced by Confucius philosophy from China. A lot.
One of the distinctive tradition of Confucius philosophy is showing respect to ancestors by performing ceremonies. A regular Korean family will have this respecting ceremony at least three times a year. When all the family members are gathered in one house (usually the eldest son's house), women in the family cook meals and ceremony offering dishes. During the ceremony, all family members will give big bows to their direct ancestors.
After offering ceremony, family members gather around and eat the offered food, assuming that their ancestors already had tasted the food.
Respecting ancestors is a big part of Korean family tradition. When my friend's mother had survived serious car crash, the doctors were saying "You must have respected your ancestors very well," rather than saying, "It's a miracle!"
Although this is a tradition that has been passed to generation to generation, recently, it became a hot potato. It is because of increasing number of working women. Some women even suffer from 'holiday blues,' just thinking about cooking food for all gathered family members throughout the holidays.
I believe Korean men should be more helpful with preparing meals and other works, or the future of ancestor respecting tradition will not be very bright.