Dr. Weird Beard?

I have a beard.

It's kind of an on-again, off-again thing for me, but in the last couple of years it's been at least slightly more "on" than "off", and in varying degrees of intensity ranging from suggestive stubble a la George Clooney

Settle down.  This is really Clooney, not me.

...to the full-on Grizzly Adams face-fro.

Also [thankfully] not me.

At present, my beard is relatively tame, per Alicia's request - she has some unsubstantiated, irrational fears about accidental asphyxiation and/or losing small valuables in there when the beard was fuller - but today I find myself wondering how a beard will be received in South Korea.

Most men in South Korea don't sport any facial hair.  It's not because they can't grow it; it just looks like cultural norms don't encourage it.  I'll leave it for others to analyze the reasons.  I just want to know if a curly red-now-speckled-with-grey beard on a white dude is going to present some kind of irresistible distraction for whatever poor unfortunates I happen to come across while we're there.

Last time we were in Seoul, we learned that people there - children especially - are absolutely willing to approach anyone they find different or odd, and begin asking questions or touching them (the touching was something the kids did mainly with our hair or clothing...I don't remember being grabbed by any adults).  I'm not sure how I would react if a strange child sidled up to me on the subway and grabbed a double-fistful of my facial hair for a tactile inspection.  I hate to admit biting might not be ruled out of that scenario, for which I would be utterly embarrassed, but not entirely sorry.

I think my apprehension about facial hair springs from a larger understanding that we're going to stand out like a whole fistful of sore thumbs while we're in South Korea.  I should probably just get over it, since I think I'd be equally conspicuous with or without a beard.  From my own observations of South Korean fashion sense (virtually everyone I remember was very well dressed and tidy looking), I don't really think a beard will make much of a difference, either way: I'll look like a vagrant no matter what I do.

This one *might* actually be me...

Thoughts?