Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gunther]

The other day I walk into Kookmin Bank, been with them for more than 3 years. I do all my international transfers with them... so I thought since they know my financial history locally and internationally I'll enquire about getting a credit card... ok we go through all the details of Job, Salary etc... but when I show them my pay sheet, there's a weird look on their faces... "sorry sir, we thought you were a middle class citizen"... what do you mean middle class?... "you see, at our bank our lower class earns up to 4 million and under, middle class between 4 and 7 million, upper middle between 7 and 12 million etc etc..."

and here I was thinking Im making alot of cash... is this strictly because Im a foreigner, since I've had many Korean colleagues earning much less than what I do, but they have 3 sometimes 4 credit cards...

Any thoughts...

[Harpeau]

Did they take into consideration your housing situation? Might it be that your company is paying for housing? That would add a signifigant amount of money to what they see on paper. In other words, if this is true, you can say that you have a large amount of disposable income.

Best of luck to you.

[ajgeddes]

That's strange. There was an article in the Korea Times in the spring with a graph depicting the difference between: working class, middle class, and upper class. Judging by what they wrote, I was nearly upper class based upon my public school + OT salary + housing.

[whatever]

An article I read just minutes ago:

S. J. Chang
Professor of Finance
Illinois State University

Another harmful aspect of Korea's strong group-oriented mentality is the almost incurable favoritism that
has been so pervasive in Korea. Many Korean people would readily attest to the statement that in
Korea three connections of blood, hometown, and school directly translate into three keys to success.
For those who are on the receiving end of this favoritism, nothing is impossible. However, for those who
do not have any of these connections at the right place at the right time, nothing is possible.

One may find it very surprising that South Korea, a country even smaller than the size of the State of
Illinois, has so distinctively different regional dialects. More startling is that this small country known
by its racial and cultural homogeneity is plagued by persistent regional prejudices, stereotypes,
discrimination, nepotism, and favoritism. Korea's deep-rooted regionalism, particularly between
Cholla and Kyungsang provinces, has not only created the bitter and ugly political division by regions
but it has also prevented the balanced, integral development of the nation.

The sticky group mentality in Korea has mass-produced circles and clubs, parties and factions, and
groups and organizations, which all ardently pursue the interests of their members at the expense of
non-members. Koreans are probably the most active people in the world in terms of participating in
school alumni activities. Under the typical slogans of promoting fellowship and school supporting
activities, alumni associations in Korea actually serve as open exchanges for private favors and
expediencies among the members, which include all those complete strangers whom you have no
meaningful relationship with except that they attended the same school you did no matter how far
apart in time between you and them.

It is rather enlightening to realize that �Kwen-chan-ah,� the Korean phrase equivalent to �It�s okay�
or �It�s not a problem� actually means, �I have no relationship with it� or �I have nothing to do with
it.� This implies that in Korea your behaviorism concerning the people outside of your circles is
not a matter of serious concern.

[ldh2222]

Maybe they really meant tier, just a language faux...? That's all I could get out of it.

[Roch]

[Hyeon Een]

[GoldMember]

What you need to do is go back to he bank, and make sure the bank staff see you getting out of a big black car. The bigger and blacker the better.
Status is all about the biggness, and blackness of your car.

[Billy Pilgrim]

[quote="Hyeon Een"]

[SPINOZA]

[ajgeddes]

[SPINOZA]

[BRawk]

[ajgeddes]

[SPINOZA]