Cultural Post #6

[Ann Pongsakul]

I think Korean culture is polychronic. For example, I read that Koreans would value keeping a good relationship with co-workers rather than pressing them to meet deadlines for a project. I recently read an interesting article on the concept of "Korean time". This concept refers to Koreans always being late to an appointment. But in more recent years Koreans have noted that Korean time is fading and more people are now on time to appointments. Korean time may have evolved in the recent years due to people joining the workforce where if one is late one could possibly lose their job. With so much focus on improving human capital along with the emphasis on being competitive, performing the best at school and at work, the evolution of Korean time makes sense. However, in personal relationships I think Korean time is still very much prevalent where being late to meet a friend runs less of a risk. Even if the meeting with a friend or family member runs late, I think Koreans are very much okay since relationships are so important. I feel like Korean time is very much linked to eating. I always feel like I take forever to eat Korean meals especially with Korean barbecue. Meals can be accompanied by drinking soju and having fun conversations that seem to last forever as well as it is portrayed in Korean dramas.