7 ways to flirt in Korean that don't sound like a textbook
Korean flirting runs on indirectness. Nobody opens with a compliment about your eyes; they ask if you have eaten, suggest food, and notice something small about your day. Half the game is keeping the surface ordinary while the subtext does the work.
These seven lines are what people actually say, in the polite 요 form unless noted, roughly in the order a Korean flirtation tends to unfold. Each one comes with a note on where it fits, because the same words can be sweet or heavy depending on timing.
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밥 먹었어요?
bap meogeosseoyo?
Have you eaten?
Literally: Did you eat rice?
The most Korean opener there is. On its own it is just care; sent at 9pm with a follow-up suggestion, it is an invitation.
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오늘 왜 이렇게 예뻐요?
oneul wae ireoke yeppeoyo?
Why do you look so pretty today?
Literally: Today why like this pretty?
The 왜 (why) makes it playful rather than heavy. For a man you would say 멋있어요 (handsome, cool) instead of 예뻐요.
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자꾸 생각나요.
jakku saenggangnayo.
I keep thinking about you.
Literally: (You) keep coming to mind.
No 'you' in the Korean; it is understood. 자꾸 is 'again and again, without meaning to', which is exactly the tone.
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우리 언제 또 봐요?
uri eonje tto bwayo?
When are we seeing each other again?
Literally: We when again see?
The 또 (again) assumes there will be a next time. Ask it at the end of a first meeting and you have made your interest clear without saying anything risky.
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같이 밥 먹을래요?
gachi bap meogeullaeyo?
Want to get a meal together?
Literally: Together rice eat-want?
-(으)ㄹ래요 is the soft 'do you want to', and food is the lowest-stakes date there is. This is how most Korean first dates get proposed.
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연락해도 돼요?
yeollakaedo dwaeyo?
Is it okay if I text you?
Literally: Even if (I) contact, is it fine?
연락 covers calls and messages. Asking permission reads as considerate, not timid.
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나 너 좋아해.
na neo joahae.
I like you.
Casual speech (반말), so only once you are already speaking informally with each other. In polite speech it is 저 그쪽 좋아해요, and yes, that is as awkward as it sounds, which is why people wait.
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A few things that hold across all of them. Polite 요 speech is the default until someone suggests dropping it, and the switch to casual speech (반말) is itself a flirting move. Compliments on effort ("you did your hair differently") land better than compliments on looks. And ending a message with ㅎㅎ or ㅋㅋ softens almost anything.