Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

  In South Korea Christmas has grown in popularity. Nevertheless, for many Christmas is seen as a distinctly Christian holiday. That said, as the holidays approach, you may wish to greet Korean colleagues with the most common Holiday greeting.  In fact, it is the best seasonal greeting for New Year’s, too.   Sae hae bok man i ba deu say yo!     Hint: When speaking, break the greeting into: sae hae bok—mahne—bah deu say yo   Sae hae bok man i ba deu say yo!  works well both in person, in a card, text, or an email.      With the time differences, plan to wish friends and colleagues in Korea a holiday greeting,   no later than our EOD on Thursday, December 23, 2021 ...so Friday Christmas Eve Day AM in Korea.   Questions?  Just ask.   Have a safe Holiday.     Don    

Year-end organization-wide promotions, restructuring, and new assignments for teams are traditionally a part of Korean corporate culture. Top to bottom within Korean companies they occur sometime between early December and early January, with the changes to senior leadership announced first, and team level changes as a norm made known the week just before or between Christmas and New Year’s Day. After the Holidays, teams then report back to work. Some assume new roles frequently in departments where they have little experience—requiring employees to acquire new skills—sink or swim.  In the days that follow those shuffled brief their replacements, as staff remaining in their jobs update new management teams on the status of projects and issues. Meanwhile, others will be en route to assignments in overseas operations; a challenge for those working outside Korea for the first time.  This can also be a challenge for local overseas operations. In particular, it is common for those ...

Translated and Edited  by Don Southerton The 2021 'K-Startup Center Demo Day' was organized and hosted by South Korea’s Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Startup Promotion Agency. 'KSC' is a startup support program for promising Korean domestic ventures and startups looking to expand overseas.  This event held on Friday December 10th at Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul Crystal Ballroom  showcased 7  innovative companies. Participating in the KSC program were Aon, Sentbe, Testworks , Grinergy, GEMotion, HiLocal and Dot. Each company presented an IR pitch through the online platform and were then screening  by VCs.  The 1st place winner was 'Grinergy', which shared their  lithium secondary battery solutions that are capable of low-temperature and rapid charging.  Sentbee, which introduced their “Digital C2C/B2B overseas remittance payment service', was selected as the 2nd place. 'TestWorks', which introduced 'Artificial Intelligence Algorithm ...

Congratulations   Grinergy   on being selected 1st Place in the 2021 K-Startup Center Demo Day. What a great honor. 축하합니다 Grinergy is a lithium-ion battery technology company with multiple solutions to revolutionize the shortcomings of the conventional lithium battery industry. ###