Western-Korean Negotiations

Navigating the Western/Korean cultural barriers is a daunting task in itself, so landing on ‘common ground’ in regards to a business matter can be even more of a formidable task that requires substantial amounts of time and energy. With that being understood, I would expect Korean negotiators to be forceful yet shrewd. Let me break that down into more of a granular explanation. The Korean culture is one based on pride and position, and these two aspects will be exhibited, and that can be interpreted as ‘forceful’. Next is the aspect of being shrewd. Korean’s are mostly a Confucian oriented business culture. This means that they are hesitant to say no to a proposition. If it is a deal that they are truly not interested in they will try to relay subtle hints of their disinterest. Or, they will simply use the common phrase of, “keul seh”, which translates to, “ putting it on the shelf”. However, if they were interested I would expect a long, drawn out process consisting of numerous meetings and exchanges. This process is paramount to establishing the relationship that Korean businesses operate within. Once the relationship is established, I would expect to have large group negotiations, at which point they would assess and analyze the proposition at a deeper level, while trying to wear down the foreign negotiators because that’s the main purpose for any business negotiation. I only mention ‘large group’ negotiations because a Korean business practice is to bring more executives to higher priority relationships/negotiations.

First I would focus on establishing a positive and comfortable relationship, because this seems to carry more weight than that just a “good deal”. From what I’ve read, Korean businesses will not come to an agreement (common ground) if they don’t feel comfortable with the people involved. So until that comfort level is established it would be pointless to try and negotiate. Secondly, I would focus on making the communication/interaction as...