Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

This week and next Korea celebrates National Foundation Day and Hangul Day. Read on to learn more about these important days. FYI, most Korean HQ teams will be off from work, so plan accordingly. Thursday, October 3 National Foundation Day. This important day celebrates the legendary founding of the first Korean nation in 2333 BC. Wednesday, October 9 Hangul Day. Hangul day commemorates the invention (1443) of Hangul the native Korean alphabet. Some people confuse Hangul with the Korean spoken language but it's the name of the written Korean alphabet letters. 한 (han) means 'Korean' and 글 ( geul ) means 'letter'. King Sejong the Great, who created Hangul, is one of the most honored rulers in Korean history. King Sejong the Great Questions, Comments, Requests, Inquiries welcome. Don Southerton

Short 2-minute video on Collaboration.  Timely as so many JVs, MOUs, and partnerships.  Questions always welcome. Don

Today is an exciting day for me. I just launched my Patreon page. https://www.patreon.com/EverythingKorea Don in Action  Staying on top of Korea facing business issues and breaking news that impacts you makes a large demand on my time.  The research, analysis, writing, and delivering the best content possible to you every week has become a full-time job. In order to continue providing the very best content I can, I could really use your help.  I feel Patreon is a great option to offset the costs. If you aren’t familiar with Patreon, it’s an easy way for those interested in my work to see new exclusive content and have access to a range of my services. 100% of all funds contributed through Patreon will be used to cover my bandwidth, so I can focus on creating great content. As a friend, I wanted to share the news with you before promoting more widely. So, if it feels right to you, anything you or the company contribute is most appreciat...

As a service, I enjoy providing you and your teams with exclusive, timely Korea facing updates and insights.  It’s that time of the year with Chuseok, (the Korean Harvest Moon Festival) right around the corner. This year, Chuseok will be observed Sept. 12-14, with the holiday on Friday, and the day before and after celebrated as National Holidays, too. Koreans, like many agrarian cultures, once followed the lunar calendar, but in recent history, they have deferred to the solar calendar in line with international practice. While public holidays are based on the solar calendar, there are a few days that are celebrated based on the lunar calendar.  These are the two most important traditional holidays, the Korean New Year’s Day (the first day of the first lunar month) and Chuseok, the Harvest Moon Festival (the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month). En mass a substantial part of the population travel. For many, this means going back to their ho...