Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

I enjoy watching Korean popular culture. With globalization, many western traditions are becoming part of Korean pop culture, more so if there is a commercial aspect. This includes Halloween, with its Anglo, Celtic, and Germanic origins... Korea Herald notes... To celebrate Halloween, children dress up as witches or ghosts and go from door to door asking for candy and threatening to play tricks if refused, a custom known as trick-or-treating. But in Korea, it's very rare to see costumed children wandering around at night. Instead theme parks, online game developers and movie theaters jump on the Halloween bandwagon. Everland, the country's biggest theme park, is staging its "Happy Halloween" festival which will run through Nov. 4. It has set up a new section devoted to Halloween while offering diverse events where children and parents can have fun together. The most visible characteristic at Everland's festival is its Halloween decorations and installations. Sett...

Bridging Culture Worldwide's focus is building cross-cultural understanding with organizations linked to Korean business. We see each client's needs as unique. Over the years, BCW has worked with hundreds of clients to improve their understanding of Korean business. ( We also assist Korean teams in learning about their global partners.) The other day, an academic colleague asked, "Exactly what does BCW do?" After a moment of thought, I responded with a recap on work BCW had performed that week.... We... 1. Educated an American management team working for a global Korean-maker on the differences between Korean, international, and American business practices. 2. Conducted workshops on skills for coping with changes within American firm recently acquired by a major Korean company. 3. Facilitated team building within a recently launched Korea-based business' US operations. 4. Crafted a comprehensive cross cultural program for a Korean global organizations to train the...

In three of my books, I write about Korea opening to the West, King Kojong, Queen Min and Seoul's Kyongbok Palace. In fact, every time I visit Korea, I spend several hours strolling through the massive palace complex. I was happy to read of the completion of a restoration project within the complex. BTW The palace restoration project is but one of many examples of South Korea preserving and highlighting its heritage amid a massive positioning of itself on the leading edge of global technology and Progress.... Korea Media notes... Geoncheonggung Residence, the blood-tainted spot in Gyeongbok Palace where Japanese assassins murdered the last empress of the Joseon Kingdom (1310-1910), has finally opened, Thursday, for the first time in 98 years. Under direct orders from Miura Goro, the Japanese Minister to Korea at the time, sword-bearing assassins invaded Gyeongbok Palace on Oct. 8, 1895 to kill Empress Myeongseong (1851-1895), who was seen as an obstacle to Japan's annexation pl...

Bridging Culture Worldwide provides a number of exclusive services to its clients, colleagues, and the business community. One of these services is Video podcasting (in QuickTime format). The current vodcast is the first of three episodes centered on building a deeper understanding of global culture. Although most of the vodcast's examples are Korea-focused, the concepts are applicable with building a deeper understanding of all cultures.... Here's the BCW Link. Go to... http://www.bridgingculture.com/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html Then Click, Understanding Global Business, p1 Sincerely, Don Southerton

I frequently post and comment on Korean technology. One of South Korea's achievements has been IT and especially Internet infrastructure. This article notes a new breakthrough.... BTW while Korea readies for 4G and beyond, much of the US is still using 2G technologies. My iPhone, an amazing technology, is 2.7G !!!!! Some reasons for South Korea's IT prowess includes strong government support and mandates to provide new technology to the public. Korean's love of technology--techno lust-- also helps. Korea Herald notes... Korea has developed the world's fastest wireless networking technology - one which enables users to download a song file in less than a brink of an eye, while a peson is moving. Named NoLA, the New Nomadic Local Area Wireless Access enables users to download data at 3.6 gigabits per second while they are moving at 3 kilometers per hour or slower, the state-run Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute said yesterday. That is fast enough to...

South Koreans are among the most wired in the world. I see this as combination of strong government support of IT infrastructure development and many Koreans fascination with technology--techno lust. Even at the recent North-South Korean summit, Kim Jong-Il called himself an Internet Expert and lauded his skills at surfing the Web. Korea Times notes...some stats South Korea leads the world in home Internet connectivity with over eight in 10 households having Internet connections and almost nine out of 10 people accessing the Web at least once a week, a report from a media research company showed. According to a survey of 50 nations by AC Nielson, an advertising consultancy firm, 88 percent of people surveyed in South Korea said that they have at least one computer at home, which was the highest rate in the world. Hong Kong (84 percent), Taiwan (81 percent), Singapore (77 percent) and the United States (77 percent) followed in the rankings. The study also said that South Koreans are ext...

Koreanist Don Southerton announces the release of his latest historical novel set in late nineteenth century Korea. The work is titled A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: Gold & Rail. A sequel, the book weaves key historic events of the era with a fictional account of Yankee trader Josh Gillet. La Jolla, CA (PRWEB) October 2, 2007 -- Koreanist Don Southerton announces the release of his latest historical novel set in late nineteenth century Korea. The work is titled A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: Gold & Rail. A sequel, the book weaves key historic events of the era with a fictional account of Yankee trader Josh Gillet. Southerton notes, "Linking fact and fiction, A Yankee in the Land of the Morning Calm: Gold & Rail, follows Connecticut Yankee Josh Gillet's adventures in Korea just as American concessionaires and influence make huge new inroads. " In addition the author cites, "Despite ill-fated romance and disappointment on a previous so...