Origin:
Nobody's really sure, but I've heard vague reference from a few people that Koreans used to believe in fan death for more superstitious reasons a few decades ago, such as "it saps your qi." Maybe they just updated it with a pseudoscientific explanation rather than stopped believing it.

Another possibility is that there used to be a lot of deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning because they used certain types of heaters indoors, and that somehow resulted in a fear of fans as well.

Le Penseur, tell your mother that 40 million Koreans agree with her. Possibly more, but I'm not sure if North Korea has electricity to run their fans.
(racetraitor has an alibi for, Thu 3 Jul 2008, 15:40, Reply)