"In Korea, Order in Korean" Cafe Notice Backfires After Online Complaint: "Just Use a Translator"

[The Financial News] A notice posted at a cafe in South Korea has become a hot topic on the major U.S. online community Reddit.
The notice in question was uploaded on the 25th by a foreign tourist who said they were traveling in Seoul Metropolitan City. The photo, taken at a cafe in Jongno District, shows a Korean-language message stating that disposable items are not provided by default for takeout orders and are only given upon request, alongside pictograms of spoons, forks, and similar items.
What the tourist took issue with, however, was a separate English notice written above it. That notice reads, "This is Korea. This is not a place where you use English. If you do not know Korean, please use a translator, and if you came here to travel, please show some manners."
The tourist who posted the notice wrote, "The cafe staff rudely pointed to this message at us," adding, "The problem is less the message itself than its tone and the overall attitude. The staff seem tired of tourists." They also commented, "I’m not sure if I’ll ever come back to this cafe," expressing a negative view on revisiting.
However, reactions from Reddit users were very different from the tourist’s. Most commenters sided with the cafe, saying things like, "Isn’t it basic courtesy to use a translator to order when you don’t know the local language?", "There must be a reason they put up a notice like this. How many foreign tourists must have behaved rudely?", and "Of course you should use Korean in Korea. There must have been a lot of people insisting on speaking English."
Some users did point out that the English in the notice is a bit awkward and could come across as rude. Others joked, "Maybe Johnny Somali (a YouTuber notorious for outrageous behavior) visited that place," or left comments such as, "Anyway, they perfectly conveyed that they don’t speak English through that notice."
bng@fnnews.com Hee-sun Kim Reporter