June Choi
Dr. Soloway
SDLC 113
April 26, 2020
SDLC 113 Cultural Post #4
As I am graduating college and facing a future filled with working a real job, I thought it would be interesting to compare work life and culture in South Korea compared to that in the US. Upon digging into Korean work and business culture, I found that age and status are very important. This is no surprise, for even in everyday life, specific customs are in place to show respect to elders or any person who is older than one’s self. Like in the US, working people often greet eachother with a formal handshake, but it is also common for businessmen to formally bow almost at a 90 degree angle to others especially if they are greeting a powerful or wealthy businessman. One difference between western and South Korean work cultures that I found was that in western cultures, there is a heavy focus on the individual worker and his/her skills and contributions that bring about a company’s success, otherwise known as individualism (개인주의). One needs to be valuable to a company as an individual in order to be worth being employed for a long period of time. On the contrary, as Korean society is based on Confucianism, it is evident that some Confucian principles have seeped into work culture to create a heavily group mentality-based environment (단체주의). Oftentimes, Koreans will work in groups to complete a project and are often dependent on other employees.
Although there is difficulty in separating work and personal life in all countries, I found that Koreans especially have trouble doing so. Personal and family time are prioritized more and kept separate in the US, while in Korea, often times there are post-work drinking parties or dinners with co-workers (회식) for any day of the week. It is common for Korean working people to return home in the late hours of the night or even the early hours of the morning after spending time with their coworkers. These parties and dinners are generally for team building and communication between coworkers in order to unite everyone. However, I find it quite unfortunate and saddening that Koreans spend so much time with their work partners and invest so much into their work life that they often neglect their personal life and families. One similarity that I found between the two cultures was that both cultures heavily use business cards when people exchange their contact information. However, there is a more formal exchange in Korean culture, as one hands over the card with two hands, and one receives a card with two hands. Finally, it is highly common in Korean work culture for people to work overtime often without pay. Additionally, it is considered rude to be rushing out of the door once the official work hours are over, and oftentimes, workers will wait for their superiors to leave. I find that these concepts are present in western work culture but are not as extreme. Below are some links to articles as well as youtube videos that I found were very helpful.
![Weekender] Origins of Korean work culture](https://res.heraldm.com/phpwas/restmb_idxmake_amp.php?idx=680&simg=%2Fcontent%2Fimage%2F2015%2F01%2F16%2F20150116001267_0.jpg)
https://www.koreaexpose.com/south-korea-rigid-work-culture-startups/
https://www.englishspectrum.com/differences-in-work-ethics-between-korea-and-the-west/
https://10mag.com/things-to-know-when-working-in-a-korean-company/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T2bF_Y78IU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnwW7o0pVrw
Comments
Hey June! I really like your post and I feel really connected to it. In many Korean films and dramas, people talk about how to balance life and work, especially for women. In traditional viewpoints, the society expects to woman to take care of the whole family and put more emphasis on raising children and keeping house. However, more and more modern women challenges the traditional stereotypes and try to find their value in works.
The problem you mentioned that people in South Korea cannot balance their own live and work very well also exists in other Asian countries, I believe. I think this probably because of people in these countries pay more attention to the interpersonal interactions in the workplace. They believe participating in after work dinner/parties can help them build stronger and closer networks, which will be very helpful for their later work.
The work environment is starkly different from that of the United States. I know it is mostly based on the Confucian principles that these differences occur. I read in someone else's post that the average annual income for a worker in Korea is around $30,000 compared to the average of an American being around $60,000. Perhaps that might be way there is such a big focus on work compared to family life although very unfortunate.
The work environment is definitely different from United States. It is a lot stricter and requires certain formality in many situations. You mentioned after work dinner/parties, but these are usually voluntary. They do have them really often and sometimes the boss just expects you to be there no matter what. Many men do find this dinner as a way to stay out of the house and drink.
I have seen this kind of phenomenon you mentioned in many Korean films and dramas. It is considered impolite to refuse the dinner invitation from the elders, so most people will give up their time to participate in the company activities in order to win the favor of the elders and leaders. As sad as it may sound, this is a problem for everyone in the workplace. Sometimes a leader's preference is more likely to get him or her promoted than his or her ability.
The power dynamics of a South Korean work environment are very interesting. There are so many things, comparatively with US work culture, that would be seen as rude. I didn't know that the younger/newer members would wait for the seniors to leave. I would think as long as you complete your work for the day, it wouldn't matter. But South Korean culture is more community based in general so it is kind of like joining a work family. It is sad how they don't spend much time with their real family though.