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Korea Business Success eZine – Spring 2008
Welcome to the Spring 2008 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
- Writing Numbers
- Learn Korean with Free Podcasts
- Feature Article #1: Nuts and Bolts of Large Company
Korean Business Hierarchy
- Feature Article #2: Understanding Korean Names
- In the News - Resumption of US Beef Imports
- Gender Roles in Korea
- A Simple Phrase to Impress
- First Korean in Space
1. Writing Numbers
Koreans do very occasionally write numbers in Chinese characters, but almost
always use Hindu-Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9), just like
Westerners do. The pronunciation of the numbers, as you would expect, is totally
different.
There are no issues with numbers in printed or electronic documents, but the
way of hand-writing some of the numbers is different and, to the unprepared,
can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. Additionally, the number 7 is displayed
differently on Korean calculators, as is shown below.
The numbers in question are 1, 7 and 9.
ONE - Koreans write the number one using one stroke or two. The number
one can sometimes look like the number seven.
SEVEN - Some Westerners add a short horizontal bar to the number seven
to help distinguish it from the number one. This horizontal bar is never used
in Korea and could cause confusion for Koreans. Instead, Koreans commonly add
a short vertical bar on the top left to help distinguish between a one and
a seven.
The number seven can be confused with the number one. There is also potential
for the number seven to be confused with the number four if it is written without
lifting the pen off the paper.
 
NINE - Koreans often write the number nine back to front because it
is quicker and easier to do so. A handwritten nine can therefore look like
the letter 'q' or the letter 'e'.
2.
Learn Korean with Free Podcasts
Korean Class
101 is a new website for learning Korean using podcasts (sound files
that you can listen to on a computer, an MP3 player or an iPod).
A wide variety of podcasts covering beginner to intermediate levels are produced
weekly. The podcasts involve simplified conversations or news reports in Korean
with discussion in English about the grammar, vocabulary and usage. Additionally,
there is a weekly audio-blog entirely in Korean for students at the intermediate
level.
The podcasts are completely free to download and keep but there is an optional
subscription service involving written worksheets providing further explanation
and practice as well as a range of online language resources. The subscription
service can be trialled free for 7 days.
The website SurvivalPhrases.com is
a related website teaching survival phrases in twelve different languages,
including Korean.
There are other affiliated websites applying the same approach to teaching French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese and English.
This review is provided solely for the information of the readers of this eZine.
Korean Class 101 and its affiliated websites are not affiliated with or endorsed
by Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.
3.
Feature Article #1: Nuts and Bolts of Large Company Korean Business Hierarchy
The following is the job position ranking system within companies of the LG
Group, where I worked for five and a half years. Other large Korean companies
(called “chaebol”) follow very similar structures:
- President (사장) – Sometimes called “Representative
Director” to reflect a peculiarity of Korean company governance structure.
- Vice-President (부사장)
- Executive Senior Managing Director (상무이사)
- Senior Managing Director (전무이사)
- Managing Director (전무)
- Director (이사)
- General Manager (부장)
- Deputy General Manager (차장)
- Manager (과장)
- Assistant Manager (대리)
- “Employee” (사원) – Refers to all entry-level
employees
In nearly every case, employees start at the bottom and work their way up.
The rare exception to this is where a former high-level government official
retires from government work and lands a job at the top of one of these large
companies.
Employees from “General Manager” on down are considered working-level.
The rank of “general manager” is the highest job position reached
by many employees who are not considered by the company to be top-executive
material and general managers who have been in their position for longer than
expected will often resign. In fact, at every level, it is generally expected
that people not keeping up with the standard promotion schedule will take the
hint and resign rather than being fired.
Also, the persons at each level do not strictly report to the rank immediately
above them. For example, while a manager may informally have responsibility
to make sure that an assistant manager under him is doing his job, the general
manager is likely the person to whom the deputy general manager, manager and
assistant manager all report. Likewise, a senior managing director typically
reports directly to the president, as do most of the other top executives.
4.
Feature Article #2: Understanding Korean Names
Traditionally, all Korean names and surnames can be written using Chinese
characters as well as using the Korean alphabet. With a very small number of
exceptions, Korean surnames consist of one syllable. According to tradition,
Korean given names consist of two syllables and occasionally one syllable.
Koreans don't have an unused middle name like we have in the West. In recent
times, some parents have decided to give their children names without a Chinese
character representation from the Bible or popular Western names and these
names may have more than two syllables.
Korean surnames don't have commonly recognized meanings and their origin is
unclear. The Chinese characters that can be used to write them have meaning
but the surnames don't share that meaning. The use of Chinese characters to
represent surnames comes from the time before the Korean alphabet was invented
and words of Korean origin were written using Chinese characters with a similar
sound. For example, the Chinese character used for the surname Kim is the Chinese
character for gold. This character is pronounced "gim" when it represents
the surname Kim but "geum" when it means gold.
A Korean person's given name can also be written using Chinese characters.
The meaning of the name comes from the meaning of the Chinese characters. A
name that is pronounced the same and written the same using the Korean alphabet
can have different Chinese characters and will hence have a different meaning.
Traditionally, to name a baby, parents would select a few names they like and
go to a fortune-teller for advice on the luckiest one based on time and date
of birth. Sometimes parents choose to give some of their children the same
first syllable of their name. e.g. Ji-Hyun and Ji-Ho.
Some surnames have different 'versions' where they have the same sound and
spelling but are based on different Chinese characters. In such cases, the
surnames are considered completely different and unrelated for official classification
purposes.
The English pronunciations of some Korean surnames are incorrect - not so much
because English speakers have difficulty pronouncing them but because the Romanization
is misleading or unclear about how the surname should be pronounced. Here are
some rules to guide you:
- 'a' is always pronounced 'ah' as in park rather than 'a' as in hat.
- 'k' is between 'k' and 'g' but closer to 'g'. Kim would be better pronounced
'gim' and Khoo would be better pronounced 'goo'.
- 'eo' is generally a short sharp 'u' sound as in sun.
- 'i' is a long 'e' as in bee if it comes at the end and a short 'i' as in
pin if it is followed by a consonant.
- If the surname starts with an 'l' or an 'r' followed by 'i' or 'ee', to
pronounce it as it would be said in Korean, drop the 'l' or 'r' and just
say the vowel sound. e.g. Lee is pronounced 'ee' and Lim is pronounced 'im'
- The English spelling of the surname Choi is misleading. A phonetic pronuncation
would be closer to "chway".
The same Korean surnames are often Romanized a number of different ways and
this is the result of different scholars making their own attempt at Romanizing
the same surname over the years. Here are some example:
- Lee, Li, Yi, and Rhee are the same surname and pronounced 'ee' in Korean.
- Park and Pak are the same surname and pronounced 'bock'.
- Noh and Rho are the same surname and pronounced 'noh'.
Koreans always write and say the surname first. When writing Korean names in
English, the writer might choose to maintain the Korean convention of surname
first or might use the English convention of surname last. To overcome this confusion,
the surname can be written in uppercase letters or underlined. To work out which
is the surname remember that the surname will have one syllable and the person's
given name will have two syllables. The two syllables of the person's given name
may be separated by a hyphen, may have the first letter of each syllable capitalised
or only the first letter of the first syllable capitalised. In any case, the
given name will almost always have two syllables and the surname almost always
have one syllable, so to work out which is which, count the number of syllables.
Another useful method for figuring it out is to ask a Korean friend.
5.
In the News - Resumption of US Beef Imports
Imports of US beef to South Korea had been banned due to Korean concerns over
the safety of US beef in relation to BSE (mad cow disease). Just last week,
negotiations broke the impass.
Imports were banned in December 2003 after of an outbreak of BSE. In January
2006, imports of bone-free beef from cattle younger than 30 months were allowed,
but imports were again suspended last year after bone fragments were found
in shipments.
An earlier earlier round of negotiations ended without agreement with the US
pushing for an immediate return to unrestricted beef imports while South Korea
had wanted the US to tighten rules on the use of cattle feed containing animal
derivatives.
Source: The Korea Herald - Monday, April 14, 2008
6.
Gender Roles in Korea
Traditional gender roles in Korea used to be straightforward and clear. Husbands
were responsible for earning money and making major family decisions. Wives
managed the household and raised children. Gender roles are slowly changing
as economic opportunities and pressures increase.
Until a few years ago, it was common for a woman to quit her job as soon as
she got married and never re-enter the workforce. However, many young women
now keep their jobs after getting married. It is still uncommon for women to
have a job after having children, but this is slowly starting to change as
more and more women enter the professions. There is a real split in the generations.
Generation X follows a modified version of traditional gender roles but generation
Y is keen to forge new ones.
Previously, a man whose wife was working would have been subject to social
stigmatization. He would have been viewed as having failed in his responsibility
to be the financial provider for the family. Men would generally prefer a lower
standard of living over having his wife working. Generally, wives would only
work if the husband's income was very low, he had an addiction, was infirm,
or was for some other reason unable to work.
Preschool education is common in Korea but it is not regarded simply as child-care
to allow women to return to work. Rather, it is intended to give middle- and
upper-class children a head-start in their educations. Most mothers of children
in preschool do not work.
Two economic factors in Western countries that discourage single-income families
are the need for young couples to provide their own housing and their need
to fund their own retirement. However, in Korea, the husband's parents are
responsible for providing housing when a couple gets married and Koreans in
the past did not need to save for their retirement because their children would
be expected to support them financially. These aspects of Korean culture made
it easier for women to stay at home, but the rising cost of housing and education
are making it harder for Koreans to maintain these customs.
In conclusion, traditional Korean geneder roles are evolving in the younger
generation in response to changing opportunities and pressures.
7.
A Simple Phrase to Impress
Koreans will be greatly impressed at your attempt to use Korean. You can say "pan-gap-soom-ni-da" (Pleased
to meet you) whenever you meet someone for the first time.
Click here to hear the pronunciation. Pleased
to meet you.
8.
First Korean in Space
A 29 year-old female South Korean astronaut So-yeon Yi, recently traveled
into space and stayed aboard the International Space Station. This is the first
time a Korean -- North, South male or female -- has ever been into space.
Yi went into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket on the 8th April and returned
safely to earth on 19th April.
While in space, Yi conducted a variety of experiments and had a video link-up
with the new president Myung-bak Lee that was broadcast on South Korean television.
This is an achievement of which Koreans are very proud and it will certainly
make a good topic of conversion the next time you want to make small-talk with
your Korean business counterparts.
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