Korean slang profile
스불재
seubuljae
A problem of your own making
An expression meaning that someone's own choices or actions have landed them in trouble.
- Expanded form
- 스스로 불러온 재앙A problem of your own making
- Other spellings
- —
- Earliest source found
- Feb 23, 2022
- Documented trend period
- Around 2022~
This is the earliest source we have verified, not the date the term was coined.
01Examples, with English translations
- Example by Julimmal
야식 먹고 자서 붓다니, 스불재네.
I'm puffy after eating late and going straight to bed. I brought this on myself.
- Quoted from a source
스불재 : ‘스스로 불러온 재앙’의 줄임말입니다.[1]
스불재: This is an abbreviation for ‘self-inflicted disaster.’
English translation by Julimmal.
02Documented history
- February 2022When the Ministry Data Research Institute showed 698 people involved in ministry the five ‘words used by MZ세대’ and asked them if they knew them, 71% responded ‘I don’t know what they mean.’ ‘스불재’ is one of those five.[1]
03Origin & word formation
Short for 스스로 불러온 재앙, a disaster of one's own making. Christian Today's account of a Ministry Data Lab explanation describes its use when someone's own actions put them in a bad situation. Who first used it and when have not been verified.
Evidence for the origin explanationHigh
The article explicitly explains the term. However, its survey participants were people involved in ministry, so the survey should not be treated as representative of usage in general.
04Sources
Original titles and links are preserved. An English translation does not replace the original source.
- ‘군싹, 스불재, 완내스…’ 아는 단어는 몇 개? (크리스천투데이)Published Feb 23, 2022Original source checked Nov 5, 2026