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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on October 29, 2009 at 1:47pm

That's a good question and I don't really have a perfect answer, but if I had to come up with something, I might start with these.

1. Language issues - It doesn't matter how good your advisers are, if you have to get all your information second-hand, there's always going to be a barrier. I've been associated with Korea for 15 years and my language skills as a foreigner are above average, but I struggle daily communicating as deeply in Korean as I do in English.

2. Finding a niche - Foreign business participation in Korea seems concentrated in areas where we have advantages, such as English. I often wish I could establish a position in the economy that doesn't leverage skills I gained at a young age. There are, of course, many professional in Korea with such advanced skills, but they're not the ones that generally stay; they're the expatriates who finish their terms and move on.

3. Connections to home - Success in a Korean business surely depends on ones commitment to the country. I'm not interested in becoming a Korean citizen though since I want to go home someday. This can't be an advantage in doing business in Korea.

What's on the top-three list of other members?

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Permalink Reply by Yonghee W on November 1, 2009 at 2:23am

Steven, I completely understand the language issues. I guess that is the difference between a first language you learned when you were young and grew up using it and a second language acquisition later in adult life. It is difficult to achieve perfect second language mastery, native-like proficiency. Well, I’m speaking from my own experience learning English as a second language. …and yes, I have the similar issues as you indicated. However, now I think about this, it can be an advantage rather than a disadvantage. You can draw more attention from Koreans and to your business. I always amazed by foreigners speaking very well Korean language. The reason is many people speak English around the world which is pretty common but not Korean language. I think Korean people would appreciate that you speak very well Korean. Anyways, this is interesting response!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Ward on November 2, 2009 at 2:18pm

1) For myself and my (mis)adventures in arcade game importing, getting connections and introductions has been the most challenging thing bar none. As a small time start up, we get zero respect approaching other relevant businesses who won't so much as give us the business card of the relevant decision maker.

2) It's been entirely different as a 'salaryman' in a Korean company though. For that, I'd have to say the importance of showing my dedication to the company over all else. This manifests itself in cases like being told by my manager last week that with contract renewal coming up for my fourth year here, I'd be in a much better position if I stayed 30 minutes late after work every day. Same thing with all of the company workshops and things always being held on weekends and holidays.

3) Related to #2, is the frustration of having my job attached to my visa status. I get so sick of having to, every year, go through job postings and ads to see what's out there and negotiating with my company. Last year I had a lot going on in my personal life and couldn't put in the time I needed to do research and ended up making far too many compromises with the company based on what they told me about how hard things were because of the economy, only to find out later that a couple of the things they said were outright lies.

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Permalink Reply by Shrikanth S on November 15, 2009 at 4:40pm

Just some of my thoughts

a) Initial impressions are critical and very difficult to recover if go on the negative side to start with

b) Since personal relationships matter a lot, it seems easier to integrate with the counterparts as an individual rather than as a company. And before you know, you start representing your company implicity. So its very critical from beganing to have the right people who understand/appreciate korean ways and then follow it up accordingly from the back-end.

c) Have good mix of 빨리 빨리(Palli Palli)/Speedaholic mindset and Strong patience. Never know which one you will need when ^_^

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Permalink Reply by Dennis Oh on November 16, 2009 at 12:34pm

I have two answers you may know.

1. Understanding their culture.

As you know, the Korean culture little bit different from Western so you need to know and gather some information of Korean culture before you start to do business in Korea.
For instance, drinking can be great solution as communication in Korean business because there is a drinking culture which makes closer and friendly, in Korean business scene.

And there are "School ties, Region ties" which can be Human Network and essence in Korea Business. You should over come these things.

2. Well presenting your mind and intention of the business.

That should be common in the world business. If you strongly and clearly present your business aim and the mind " I can do" to your clients or investors, they will be in reliance on your business. However, I know this is the most difficult thing in doing business.

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Permalink Reply by Ondrej Slechta on November 20, 2009 at 4:13am

It may be a real challenge to adjust a non-Korean organization to Korean expectations which are just different. To me it looks like while in Europe the quality-speed relationship or the quality-price relationship is viewed more as a trade-off, in Korea it is expected that products or services will be delivered in high quality, fast, and cheap at the same time.

Also, the business beat is different, 빨리빨리 being only a part of it. Expect (and adjust to) 180/360 shifts in the direction of a project or transaction during preparatory stage, and extreme execution speed once this direction was agreed.

The pressure can be tremendous. When working on a project with a Korean company, they spend nights in the office and expect the counterparty to do the same.

In this context, having somebody on the board who is really fluent in Korean, knows the environment, and who can smooth out misunderstandings and work out detailed issues seems to be a necessity.

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Permalink Reply by Yonghee W on November 27, 2009 at 12:48am

Funny you said about Good, Fast, and Cheap triangle. I use that constraint.
In reality they can’t have all these 3. Customer must choose only two out of the three options.
Good + Fast = Expensive, Good + Cheap = Slow, and Fast + Cheap = Inferior: I found these are really true.

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Permalink Reply by MikeHornSwagDog on December 1, 2009 at 11:28am

We have a unique challenge in that we are looking to setup an online business in Korea and are struggling with finding the right payment gateway partner. Does anyone have experience wtih this specific challenge?

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Permalink Reply by Steven S. Bammel on December 1, 2009 at 11:57am

Mike,

That's an excellent question and not one I know the answer to. But I can tell you that online business in Korea is far more regulated than it is for us back in the US. Buyers have to identify themselves through a national database, and there seems to be a requirement that additional security programs be installed through the browser. If you try to do this yourself, I expect it will take a significant investment. Perhaps you would get the most bang for your buck by finding an existing online sales channel in Korea to sell through.

Perhaps someone else in the community has some more specific information than me.

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Permalink Reply by MikeHornSwagDog on December 1, 2009 at 12:00pm

We've made some progress but we are not there yet. Due to licensing restrictions on our product line, we have to be the vendor on record, so we can't sub-contract to a local company. We are making licensed customizable World of Warcraft shirts (online gaming is huge there) and have a printing partner set up to produce and ship, but we need to control the transactions. I was in Seoul about a month ago for this project.

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Permalink Reply by Seh-Hyeong Kim on April 17, 2010 at 4:29pm

Here are what I have noticed (it may be limited to matters regarding young employees, though)

To draw a line between business and personal matters - You will probably want to say to them specifically that "this is not personal" since they (or we) tend to take things too personally at work. Some employers (or many) take advantage of this and keep asking for more and more from their employees, stating that "we are a family," Of course, young employees do not buy it but don't say so loud.

To understand that highly educated young Korean employees - especially the ones working at top ranked domestic corporations - feel that their career is deadend-ish in Korea and thus looking for a chance to leave the country (this has been common over the past years)

To know that the level of distrust has reached its pinnacle and this is probably why they will want to work for a foreign employer. They are all about becoming an internationally demanded worker - I am referring to white color jobs :).

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Permalink Reply by Ben Plantan on April 20, 2010 at 11:45am

1. Distance. I am based out of New York City and distance is more of a factor in my dealings with Korea and Koreans than, for instance, Europe or South Asia because it is nearly impossible to make much headway on a project without face time. Over email or the phone you can't conclude definitively any matters of real substance and really can't get to "yes" on a deal without 15 hours on a plane to Seoul.

2. Age and perception. I'm 29 years old and while I may be the one at our side of the table with the connections, experience, and final authority over a decision, if I don't bring a grey beard along to meetings, I'm not taken seriously by Korean counterparts of an older generation. I know this is just a cultural thing, but it makes things pretty difficult and frustrating at times.

3. Agreements and contracts, even when inked and signed, are always renegotiable and at risk of being in some kind of flux. This can work for you or against you, but it is very different and adds a risk dimension to dealings that can be hard to quantify and plan for.

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