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Korean Business Etiquette: The Cultural Values and Attitudes that Make Up the Korean Business Personality
This book offers a penetrating view of the morals and values that shape the Korean business personality; cultural "keys" that turn Koreans on and off, and how best to communicate with them.
Korean Business Etiquette will show what really makes Korean workers tick-and how to do business the Korean way. With its authoritative scholarship, practical insights, and guidelines for foreign workers, this book is truly a "must read" for anyone doing business in Korea now or in the future.
Korean Business Etiquette will show what really makes Korean workers tick-and how to do business the Korean way. With its authoritative scholarship, practical insights, and guidelines for foreign workers, this book is truly a "must read" for anyone doing business in Korea now or in the future.
- GenresNonfictionBusiness
192 pages, Paperback
First published August 15, 2004
13 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
About the author
Boyé Lafayette De Mente
199 books26 followersBoyé Lafayette De Mente was an author, journalist, and adventurer. He wrote more than 100 books, most of them about the culture and language of Japan, East Asia, and Mexico.
De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.
De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.
De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.
De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 25, 2025
It gives a comprehensive view of Korean culture that is useful, especially in the business context.
While some of the ideas are repeated in a few parts of the book, and I would like to have the 한글 equivalent next to the romantisations, overall, book gave a lot of insight that will be useful in understanding many of the behaviors and cultural undercurrents.
While some of the ideas are repeated in a few parts of the book, and I would like to have the 한글 equivalent next to the romantisations, overall, book gave a lot of insight that will be useful in understanding many of the behaviors and cultural undercurrents.
May 7, 2012
Not bad at all. Chapters are broken up into sizeable chunks that are insightful and easy to read. My biggest complaint stems from the fact that despite the author's extensive knowledge of the Korean language, he refrains from using any 한글 in the book - only romanization of key terms. This makes for a sloppy glossary.
Don't let this questionable editing mistake steer you away from this book - not only does it contain nugget after nugget of valuable information, it also contains a fantastic summary of ancient and modern Korea wrapped up in about 12 pages.
The author does well to tie in his knowledge of Japanese culture and business as it plays a big role in Korea. However, I would have liked more taboos and "do-not-do-this-you-impatient-foreign-businessperson" tidbits - although the book has plenty. I suppose the best feature of the book is it's instant pick-up-and-read aspect however, if the proper context isn't taken into account, I'm afraid that some of this book might be forgettable - which is a shame.
Perhaps it goes without saying that this book is applicable to anyone living in Korea and has thousands of applications outside the business world. A great read.
Don't let this questionable editing mistake steer you away from this book - not only does it contain nugget after nugget of valuable information, it also contains a fantastic summary of ancient and modern Korea wrapped up in about 12 pages.
The author does well to tie in his knowledge of Japanese culture and business as it plays a big role in Korea. However, I would have liked more taboos and "do-not-do-this-you-impatient-foreign-businessperson" tidbits - although the book has plenty. I suppose the best feature of the book is it's instant pick-up-and-read aspect however, if the proper context isn't taken into account, I'm afraid that some of this book might be forgettable - which is a shame.
Perhaps it goes without saying that this book is applicable to anyone living in Korea and has thousands of applications outside the business world. A great read.
October 7, 2014
Even after being in a Korea for over six years now, I was able to learn quite a few things about Korean culture through this book. A lot of times people are quick to say "Because of Confucianism, Korea is like this." However, the same people tend not to go much farther than that when explaining the background for certain parts of Korean society. This book however delves deeper into Korean history and traditional Confucian values that still impact the psyche of modern Koreans.
This is a general book for people with little to no experience with South Korea and I take everything they say with a grain of salt since it has probably been simplified to an extent. There are a lot of topics mentioned in the book that I would love to read more about in greater detail. In addition to that, Korean culture is constantly changing, there are probably certain aspects that are not as prominent as before.
This is a general book for people with little to no experience with South Korea and I take everything they say with a grain of salt since it has probably been simplified to an extent. There are a lot of topics mentioned in the book that I would love to read more about in greater detail. In addition to that, Korean culture is constantly changing, there are probably certain aspects that are not as prominent as before.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews