What skin color are Koreans?

ANSWER: Apricot?

The Korean word for "flesh" is 살, and the Korean word for "color" is 색, so together 살색 (pronounced 살쌕) means "flesh color," for which Koreans also use the word 살빛. But a problem arose when foreign workers started coming to Korea with skin colors very different from that of Koreans, and some of those foreigners claimed that the word 살색 was racist, and many Koreans agreed, so in 2002, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea decided to replace the color 살색 with the word 연주황색 (軟朱黃色), which literally means "light (軟) orange (朱黃) color (色)." That suggests that Koreans considered their skin color to be "light orange." So, after that, everyone was happy, right? Wrong!

Some Korean grade school kids did not like the new name for the color because it was Sino-Korean and therefore too difficult to remember, so in 2004, they petitioned Korea's National Human Rights Commission to change the color from 연주황색 (light orange color) to either the pure Korean word 살구색 (apricot color) or 복승아색 (peach color). The Commission accepted their argument and decided in 2005 that the color would be called 살구색 (apricot color).

So, in Korea, avoid using the racist word 살색, and if you need a new pet name for your Korean girlfriend, you might try "My Sweet Apricot."