sunbae

plural sunbaes · alternative seonbae

1. An upperclassman or senior, in the context of Korea.

   How many people had told her these things? She’d lost count. Family. Friends. Colleagues. Seonbaes.

   2023, Hawon Jung, Flowers of Fire: The Inside Story of South Korea’s Feminist Movement and What It Means for Women’s Rights Worldwide, BenBella Books, →ISBN

   3 more examples

   When students start their freshmen year in college, they are taken care of by their sunbaes, who give them various advice about school.

   2012, Seung Hee Yoo, David Matsumoto, “Korean Culture Explored Through Survey Research”, in Anastacia Kurylo, editor, Inter/Cultural Communication: Representation and Construction of Culture, page 400

   On September 14-15 of this year, led by their sunbaes (upperclassmen), excited students wearing blue for Yonsei and red for Korea University converged upon Jamsil Sports Complex to support their athletic teams in the tradition-laden sports competition.

   2012, Tatyana Yun, "The Sound And The Passion: Yonko Games 2012", The UIC Scribe (Underwood International College, Yonsei University), Winter 2012, page 46

   Minwoo was an active participant in Korean sporting clubs, hung out with Korean sunbaes [seniors] in his department and lived with Korean roommates in his dormitory.

   2016, Julie Choi, Creating a Multivocal Self: Autoethnography as Method, page 55

2. South Korean idol fandomAn older or more experienced idol, viewed as a veteran, mentor, or predecessor.

   Winner and iKon learned and grew by following their sunbaes' (seniors) footsteps.

   2019 June 23, Sabah S. Themis, “YG Bows Out From His Entertainment Company”, in BusinessMirror, page 5

   2 more examples

   While it did seem like TWICE was set on the fast track to stardom – after all, the JYP darlings were expected to follow in the footsteps of their 'Tell Me' sunbaes – their road to success was far from smooth-sailing.

   2017 May, Chew Hui Ling, “All About The TWICEcoaster”, in Teenage, page 43

   The members were decked out in classic 90s fashion which was very reminiscent of their sunbaes H.O.T.

   2019 August, Helen Rodgers, “NCT 127: Live In London”, in UKP Magazine, page 12