To Go

I'm going to start doing these short cultural observation blurbs because I'm getting too lazy to write rediculously long passages that I don't even want to read sometimes.

Koreans don't ask for to-go boxes and if they do I haven't seen them do it.  They either eat all of their food or just leave 1/2 of it there.  The latter is especially true for girls.  The "finish everything on your plate" mentality has a historical  foundation for it.  Before Korea's rapid urbanization around 50 years ago (?) people were barely making ends meet and living in poverty.  Food (especially rice) was a rare commodity and extremely coveted and cherished.  People even changed their greeting to "pab mogoseoyo?" or "have you eaten yet?" because food was an important factor in culture.  But back to the point.  I think asking for a to-go box is looked down upon b/c A)it meant you couldn't finish the food or B)it shows you can't afford to waste the food (food here is cheap for the most part).  In America however, if people like their food and can't finish it, it's an automatic "to-go box please."  Seeing a Korean at a sit down restaurant ask for a to-go box is rare.  I wonder if, aside from my lame attempts at explaining, there is a legit reason why