In Kdramas whenever eating or drinking with friends the group will invariably clink their glasses before drinking. And not just once at the beginning of the meal but rather multiple times throughout the social gathering. Wine glasses, soju shot glasses, beer glasses, even coffee cups... all get clinked multiple times in one sitting.
In contrast my friends and I are probably more focused on the drinking than the clinking... yeah, we'll share a modest clink one in a while, but we're basically a one & done type of group.
Pat here. I just love when they are drinking soju and carefully look away from their companions and take a drink. It’s as far as you can get from ‘bottoms up’ that we see in American shows. When we lived in Sweden and we were toasting, we would have to look into the eyes of the person sitting next to us and take a drink in the most serious way. There was lots of pressure to do it correctly. And when we lived in Taiwan, it was ‘gambei’ all the way. That meant you’d have to empty your cup every time so you were usually inebriated by the end of the meal. My poor husband had to drink for both of us. I think I’m off subject…again.
Additionally, Koreans consider it important to pour drinks for others.
When two or more people are drinking, someone else will always fill your glass before pouring it yourself :)