Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jazblanc77]

[helly]

This is going to sound ssooooo simple but...

Please be aware that you are going to be misquoted after your interview.

You will be misquoted.

Repeat this to yourself..."I will be misquoted, and I'm not going to let it bother me."

Then say it again.

I've done many many interviews with Korean journalists and stories never, ever came out they way they were planned.

I even took a Korean journalist on a week interview tour to the states and had to arrange interviews and brief the interviewers about the questions to be asked...God, you can't even imagine how frustrating that one was.

Just, be aware of the fact. It will reduce a lot of the stress you get when you read the final product.

And, just in case you're not misquoted.... your words will be placed out of context.

And if all turns out fine, breathe yourself a huge sigh of relief and take solace in the knowledge that you are one of very few who were not misquoted.

[Azure]

[Real Reality]

1. Hong Kong
2. Singapore

[Derrek]

[J.B. Clamence]

[rapier]

Being a world leader "again" (after the glorious koguryo kingdom) is the deeply hidden aspiration within every Koreans psyche, and becoming the economic hub of asia the objective they tirelessly work towards.
The creation of "business cities" and free trade zones at sites like Songdo in Incheon or Gunsan, and the further (still pipedreams) creation of the entire country into a free trade zone- will sadly accelerate and totally wreck the environment and living conditions of this already overcrowded and polluted country.
The coastal reclamations at Saemangeum being bulldozed through will destroy the most impotant tidal areas for birds and wildlife in the Yellow sea, threatening several species with extinction, not to mention dooming the fishing industry and lowering future water quality throughout the area. All to build more industrial/business area or "The world's biggest golf course" etc.
Koreans are trashing their land for the sake of an egostistical economic race with japan.
Hub of asia? i believe its entirely possible: Korea still has plenty of room for growth, a good water supply, (unlike China's severe problems), and can only improve its ability to host international business and people. But at what price?Koreans don't honestly care.

[endo]

[Paji eh Wong]

[captain kirk]

I've, reading the thread, chimed on Endo's appreciation that Korea is a new country. As in 'country on its own'. It was a vassal state to China during ancient times, then a resource base of labour and materials for Japan from 1910 or so until WW2. The Korean War messed everything up. America stepped in and also invested hugely. Yet, the everyday Korean's attitude seems to be 'it's like America is an older brother who's stayed too long, and eventually you want him to leave'.
In the sixties Korea evolved rapidly its manufacturing base, with the help of American money.
Kiwiboy talks about pride. I chime on that and see it as a major stumbling block. The reasons for this blind, isolating pride could be;
1. Hard times in the past. Being a vassal state of China, numerous invasions which threatened the nation's limited sovereignity. The use of Korea by the Japanese for decades until WW2 as a resouce, labour included.
2. The racial homogenity. It's a very closed-in self-appreciation en masse.

I see a lot of illusions and distorted thinking which continues to be bolstered and carried on. The complete lack of acknowledgement of American investment, it being snubbed and covered over by talk of the 'dynamic Korean' perpetuates a myth which puts the Korean nose up. Until Korea comes down to earth and realizes the problem of Korean pride there's going to be no hub.

[sadsac]

The KNTO promote their 1330 hotline for foreigners. When the woman who takes your questions goes on holidays, this service goes into hiatus, as there is no one else to offer assistance. Korea will never be the hub of Asia.

[trevorcollins]

Having the international and domestic airport terminals in Seoul less than 45 minutes away from one another would be a nice start.

[Gord]

This thead has produced a number of good suggestions (in addition to some pointless whining), but my major issue is the foundation this is all built on: The email one.

One private company offering email blocks email from another service that historically was a spam provider, and you are mad at them.

First off, complain to Hotmail. They turned off the delayed delivery notification option that most email servers have on by default. On my email server, it notifies me if an email hasn't been delivered in four hours, and then updates every 24 hours for up to five days before giving up. Had you been using a provider that did this, you could have avoided the problem.

Second, you're living in a glass house. Both by percentage and by sheer numbers, more email servers in North America will block emails from Korea that Korean email servers block from the U.S. Further still, the western sites that are blocked (like Hotmail) were historically spam providers while western email servers that block emails from Korea block everything from Korea simply because it's Korea and they can't be bothered to figure out which companies do the spam and which are legit.

I'd try not to focus on the email thing at all because if they find someone who knows about tech, they will murder your email position. Instead, try to show how it's quite difficult for a foreigner to show up in Korea and to sign up for Internet, a phone, an apartment, a car, and a bazzillion other things that people with money are used to getting with no issues.

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

I think requiring a Korean ID number for internet payments is a classic example of what's wrong here and one that could be fixed very easily.

[mithridates]

trevorcollins has a good idea...in Shanghai they've built a maglev train that runs from there for the airport, about 45 km. It goes at 420 kph and takes 8 minutes. Compare that to the 1-hr. trip from Seoul to Incheon. Incheon is consistently rated as one of the nicer airports in the world and having a quick direct route to it would finish things up nicely.