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Korea
Business Success eZine – Fall
2007
Welcome to the Fall 2007 issue of the Korea Business
Success eZine of Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.
We hope you find this information helpful to your business in Korea
and with Koreans everywhere.
Table of Contents
- Greetings in the Workplace
- Korean Culture: Eating on the Run
- Feature Article: North-South Relations
- Flooding in Korea
- Population Trends in South Korea
- New Information Website for Foreigners
- Korean Etiquette: Eye Contact and Shaking Hands
- MT
1. Greetings in the Workplace
In the workplace or other situation where you commonly encounter
people several times a day, Westerners would consider it polite
to greet or at least acknowledge another person each time you see
them. However, this is seen as excessive by Koreans and would tend
to make them feel uncomfortable. You should certainly greet a Korean
the first time you see him or her each day but it is not necessary
to greet them each time after that. There is no problem in having a
chat with a Korean whom you bump into again but if you have nothing
you wish to say, then just walking on by without greeting them
is not considered rude.
2. Korean Culture: Eating on the Run
In the last edition of the eZine, the culture of people eating
lunch together was discussed. An extension of this is that eating
alone is avoided because it is taken as a sign that a person has
been excluded from a group or groups. To Koreans, being excluded
from a group means there must be something wrong with that person
and he should therefore be shunned by both those who know him and
those who don't know him.
You should also avoid eating on the run because it gives the impression
that you have been excluded if you are alone and is a sign that
you are rejecting those that you are with if you eat by yourself
when you are part of a group.
If are out and about by yourself and need to eat, go into a restaurant,
even a fast food restaurant, to eat. Eating alone in public creates
a bad impression - by eating in a restaurant, you reduce the stigma
of eating alone. If you are with others then don't eat by yourself
- suggest that the whole group grab something to eat and if they
decline, wait until you get a chance to eat together or take your
leave and find a restaurant or return to your accommodation to
grab a bite to eat.
It is perfectly acceptable to drink a bottled non-alcoholic beverage
alone in public. If you are with a group, it would be polite to
ask the others whether they would like a drink and offer to pay
for their drinks. It is not necessary to go to a restaurant for
a drink - you can just purchase the drinks from a vending machine
or convenience store. But buying yourself a drink without offering
drinks to others would be considered bad form.
If you suffer from a medical condition such as diabetes that requires
you to eat at irregular times, explain this to the group you are
with and, if possible, carry and eat food which is fairly small
and unobtrusive, such as candy or biscuits.
3. Feature Article: North-South Relations
South Korea's president Roh Moo-hyun just got back from visiting
North Korea for a three-day summit. This was the second inter-Korean
summit - the first was in June 2000 when then President Kim Dae-Jung
visited North Korea and the two Koreas agreed to improve relations
and promote economic co-operation. The first summit was truly a
momentous occasion and there was great interest and very high hopes
among the South Korean population. Most South Koreans supported
the summit this time around too but interest and expectations were
much lower.
Undoubtedly, Kim Jeong-Il has seized the opportunity to have another
summit before the upcomming South Korean presidential elections
because negotiating with a right-wing president or even holding
a summit with him would be much more difficult.
The main purpose of the visit was to further facilitate business
co-operation. President Roh was accompanied by almost 50 business
leaders and inspected a joint motor plant and the Gaeseong industrial
zone.
The Korean War has technically not ended but is in a state of extended
ceasefire. President Roh had expressed a desire to reach a peace
deal with North Korean leader Kim Jeong Il formally ending the
Korean War, which would have been a major political prize for him,
but it was not exactly forthcoming on this occasion. The two parties
agreed to have a meeting at an unspecified future date along with
the US and China, the other participants in the Korean War, to
negotiate a treaty to formally end the war. This is just a re-iteration
of the September 19 Joint Statement agreed to at the six-party
talks in 2005.
Many believe it comes down to how Kim Jeong-Il wants to play the
summit for its domestic propaganda value or for the aid or concessions
he can extract. To use it for propaganda, he might talk up the
possibility of negotiations at home, then refuse to negotiate or
commence negotiations and then later pull out and tell the North
Korean people that it is the US and South Korean "warmongers" that
are blocking the "ardent desire of North Korean people" for
peace, or he may participate in negotiations and then claim all the
glory. It could go either way.
Kim Jeong-Il is not mad or illogical. He is often deliberately
insincere and unreasonable in negotiations but there is method
to his madness. Typically, he refuses to negotiate or pulls out
of negotiations for no apparent reason so he can blame their failure
on the other party to use for domestic propaganda, or to extract
aid or concessions in future negotiations.
There was considerable controversy among some in South Korea prior
to the summit because President Roh's itinerary included watching
the North Korean Arirang festival, the mass gymnastics games, with
Kim Jeong Il. The Arirang festival is considered to be steeped
in communist propaganda and is a symbol of Kim Jeong Il's control
over and oppression of the North Korean people. The viewing of
the Arirang festival by a foreign leader can be interpreted as
a show of support for Kim Jeong Il and his regime. Roh did attend
the Arirang festival and stood and applauded at times. He went
even further and expressed his desire for the long life of Kim
Jeong-Il during his visit to the North Korean assembly. These two
things can be construed as saying that President Roh of South Korea
recognizes the superiority of the North Korean political system
and such is propaganda gold for Kim Jeong-Il and an excellent opportunity
for Roh's political opponents back home to attack him.
President Roh of South Korea had expressed the desire to get a
lot out of the summit and will certainly be talking up his achievements
in the weeks ahead. He wanted to use the summit to achieve something
of note on the international stage in order to create a historical
legacy for himself and put his party in a good position at the
next election as he nears the end of his term in office. Kim Jeong-Il,
on the other hand, seems to be trying to use the summit to legitimize
his grip on power both domestically and internationally. It appears
that Kim Jeong Il has made full use of the summit to get what he
wanted and then sent Roh Moo-hyun away virtually empty-handed.
A summit of this nature is mostly about symbolism with the substance
to come in later bureaucratic negotiations, but Kim did not provide
Roh with any big symbolic prizes to take back with him. However,
Roh may see some political dividends in the weeks and months ahead
if negotiations lead to further economic co-operation between the
North and South, particularly if road access for trade and tourism
becomes a reality.
4. Flooding in Korea
Korea experiences a rainy season ("jang-ma cheol" in
Korean) every year approximately extending from late June to early
August. The timing and severity of rains varies from year to year
and some years a lot of rain can fall in a short time. The rainfall
in North Korea and South Korea is similar during the rainy season
but North Korea is always affected much more than South Korea because
South Korea has invested a lot of money on flood mitigation infrastructure
while North Korea has not. The extensive deforestation in the North
also exacerbates the problem there.
Flood damage still does occur in South Korea but South Korea is
wealthy enough to carry out reconstruction work and provide aid
to its effected citizens so floods in modern times don't have major
or lasting effects in the South. On the other hand, North Korea,
as well as being more severely affected, is much less able to deal
with flood damage and often has to rely on foreign aid. Floods
in North Korea can have flow-on affects and take years to recover
from.
You might remember stories of severe famine in North Korea in the
mid to late 1990s. North Korean agricultural production is low
because of the country's low proportion of arable land, lack of
fertilizers, lack of access to modern machinery, fuel shortages,
and communist inefficiency. It struggles to produce enough food
to feed its population under normal circumstances, so any disruption
to production has the potential to cause a famine. It was a series
of floods that destroyed crops and agricultural capacity that brought
about the famine in the 1990s.
5. Population Trends in South
Korea
South Korea has been aging steadily since 1980 and the trend seems
set to continue. The National Statistical Office in a recent report
estimated that people over the age of 65 will be double the number
of those under 15 by the year 2030.
The cost of raising children in South Korea is very high due to
the culture of education and providing housing for sons and furnishings
for daughters when they get married. One reason for large families
in the past was the desire for people to have a son who would support
and care for them in their old age but this custom is under threat
from the new economic reality.
There are foreign guest workers in South Korea but mass migration
of non-Koreans would not be acceptable to Koreans in the foreseeable
future. However, migration from or further economic integration
or political unification with North Korea is a possible way to
alleviate labor shortages in South Korea. Additionally, there are
presently large numbers of South Korean men and women who for various
cultural reasons are not engaged or not fully engaged in the workforce
and it is conceivable that cultural attitudes might change enough
to allow them to re-enter the workforce.
6. New Information Website for Foreigners
Galbijim is a
new internet forum for foreigners living, working or traveling in Korea.
It was started and is maintained by a 33-year old Canadian who has
been in Korea for about four years. The name of the website comes
from a famous Korean dish made from marinated beef ribs.
The website consists of various sections including Wikipedia articles
on Korea, Korean newspaper articles translated into English, job
advertisements (mostly for English teachers), and several different
forums.
7. Korean Etiquette: Eye Contact and Shaking Hands
In a Western business
setting, making direct eye contact when speaking and greeting others
with a firm handshake are signs of respect but this is not necessarily
the case in Korea.
In Korea, direct eye contact is best avoided with people more senior
(higher up the hierarchy) than you because it might be interpreted
as a challenge to status. Look at people when speaking to them
without looking directly into their eyes. However, looking right
away when speaking would also create a bad impression. Looking
slightly downwards when talking to someone more senior than you
is a sign of respect because you are clearly showing that you recognize
and accept their status.
Shaking hands is not a traditional part of Korean culture so expect
some Koreans to be unfamiliar with it. A firm handshake, by Western
standards, would be too firm by Korean standards and might make
a Korean feel uneasy. Handshaking between men and women is also
unusual.
Notwithstanding the above, Koreans will expect to shake hands with
foreigners and you are unlikely to face problems by shaking hands
with people you meet in a business setting.
8. MT
"MT", which stands for membership training, is a modern phenomenon
in Korea. It is basically a retreat where a group of people from an
organization go away together for a day or more and carry out a variety
of group-bonding activities and training activities.
It is a rite of passage for university students who might go on several
MT retreats for the various clubs and associations they have joined
and is a good way for the younger students and older students to bond
with each other and establish and strengthen the all-important "senior-junior" relationship.
(See the feature article in the previous edition of the eZine for an
explanation of the senior-junior relationship.) Drinking alcohol together
is considered by Koreans to be one of the best ways to bond with others,
so naturally there is lots of drinking when people go on MT.
MT is not done just by university students. Companies, religious
organizations and others also go on MT. The ratio of training to
fun activities will depend on the organization, but in the case
of university clubs, very little training is accomplished.
A Korean associate's MT experiences are a great topic for light
conversation. Undoubtedly, they have many humorous anecdotes to
share.
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