South Korea Meetings

South Korea Meetings

First meetings can often be completely dominated by the need to start the relationship-building process.

Therefore, very little might be discussed which relates to the actual business in hand with most time being spent exchanging pleasantries, discussing travel and other such-seeming trivia. It is important not to show impatience or irritation at this stage. Rather view the meeting for what it is – the essential first steps in creating a, hopefully, rewarding and long-term business relationship.

It is important in these early stages to be viewed as a man of honour and this can be achieved by avoiding impatience and confrontation as well as by showing the right amount of respect to those people to whom respect is due – older more senior contacts. Try, therefore, to do some research on the people you will be meeting – who are the most important contacts?

The relevance of your delegation could also be judged by who you take with you. Their senior people would not be expected to have to deal with younger, more junior contacts from another organisation. Ensure a compatibility of levels within meetings. It is also important to be able to answer fully any technical questions thrown at you, so ensure that your delegation has the requisite level of expertise at its disposal in order to avoid seeming ill-prepared or amateurish.

Punctuality is important, as is dress and body language.

Gift Giving

Gift giving is an endemic part of Korean business life and should not be confused with notions of bribery and corruption. Gifts should not be too lavish but should always be of good quality. It is important to take a number of small gifts to Korea to distribute to new and existing contacts.
Gifts should always be wrapped. Alcohol, especially good single malt whiskey and brandy is always an appreciated gift. Do not open the gift in front of the giver. It is polite to seem to refuse the gift a couple times before accepting.

Author

This country-specific business culture profile was written by Keith Warburton who is the founder of the cultural awareness training consultancy Global Business Culture. 

Global Business culture is a leading training provider in the fields of cross-cultural communication and global virtual team working.  We provide training to global corporations in live classroom-based formats, through webinars and also through our cultural awareness digital learning hub, Global Business Compass.

This World Business Culture profile is designed as an introduction to business culture in South Korea only and a more detailed understanding needs a more in-depth exploration which we can provide through our training and consultancy services.