Korean Zodiac Compatibility Chart (띠 궁합): Best Matches and Clashes

Korean zodiac compatibility, called tti gunghap (띠 궁합), compares two people's year animals, the animal of the year each person was born in. It is the quick version of Korean compatibility reading: the one aunties do at the table the moment someone mentions a new partner's birth year. The chart below covers all twelve animals.

A four-panel version

First, find your animal

Your Korean zodiac animal comes from your birth year, with one catch: the Saju year starts at ipchun (입춘), around February 4, not on January 1. If you were born in January or early February, use the year before.

The compatibility chart

Three traditional relationships do most of the work in tti gunghap:

• Three-harmony (삼합, 三合): the twelve animals form four groups of three. Animals in the same group share a rhythm and are read as natural allies.
• Six-harmony (육합, 六合): six fixed pairs that combine easily. Read as an easy, comfortable partnership.
• Clash (충, 沖): six pairs that sit directly opposite each other on the zodiac wheel. Read as friction and pull, the kind that can also mean chemistry.

Wonjin: the Korean extra

Korean readers often add one more relationship, wonjin (원진), a pair said to carry a quiet, nagging resentment. The usual wonjin pairs are Rat and Goat, Ox and Horse, Tiger and Rooster, Rabbit and Monkey, Dragon and Pig, and Snake and Dog. You'll hear it mentioned a lot in Korea, sometimes as a joke about in-laws. Munyeo's compatibility reading leaves wonjin out of its scoring and sticks to the three relationships in the chart above.

Why the year animal is only the start

A person's Saju (사주) has eight characters: a stem and a branch for the year, month, day, and hour of birth. The year animal is one of those eight. A full gunghap (궁합) compares the two charts as a whole: how the day masters relate, whether the two sets of five elements fill each other's gaps, and how the branches in every pillar interact, not just the year.

That's why a "clash" couple can do well and a "perfect match" couple can struggle. The year animal is a friendly first impression. Most Korean readers treat it the way you'd treat hearing someone's star sign at a party: interesting, rarely decisive.

Common questions

What is the best match in the Korean zodiac? Animals in the same three-harmony group, plus each animal's one easy pair. For a Tiger that's Horse, Dog, and Pig.

Is a clash pair a bad sign? Not on its own. Clash reads as friction and pull, and the rest of both charts decides how it plays out.

Is Korean zodiac compatibility the same as the Chinese one? The animals and the main relationships are the same. Korean practice adds the Korean names and habits like wonjin, and reads the year from ipchun.

How do I get a full gunghap? You need both people's birth dates, and birth times if you know them. The full reading compares both charts, not just the year animals.

For entertainment and self-reflection. Not advice.

Compare two full charts, not just two animals: Gunghap Compatibility Reading