Harmony & South Korean Communication Style

At a country-specific cultural training at Novo Nordisk last week, we had a chance to take a deep dip into South Korean business culture. Amongst others, we discussed the importance of hierarchy, indirect communication, and competitiveness in a society that is, on the one hand anchored in strong traditions and on the other changing rapidly. 

Harmony between people is a core value in collectivist societies like South Korea, where Confucian values of balance and stability have been the dominant philosophy for more than a millennium. The Koreans call this collective harmony for ‘inhwa ??’ and the fact that preserving harmony is crucial in a conversation, can make the communication style very indirect. 

An example of ways in which the inhwa is attempted to be maintained for the sake of collective harmony is avoiding to reject something suggested in a public forum. From a Scandinavian perspective, where we are most comfortable with to-the-point-communication and putting the cards on the table, this might seem ineffective or counterproductive but considering that South Korea went from national bankruptcy to be the 11th largest economy in the world in a span of about 20 years, there is no doubt that there is an effective way of translating this indirect communication.

Just because you do not say it openly and orally, doesn’t mean that you are not expressing it. A very important communication skill in South Korea is what Koreans call ‘nunchi ??’, literally meaning ‘eye-measuring’ or `knowledge of the eye′. Nunchi is, in other words, the ability to read the other person with the eyes and it will help to decode and understand situations like the above mentioned. Why? one might ask oneself – Because it gives you a chance to both maintain harmony and communicate effectively in a dynamic and competitive work environment.

It is not easy for foreigners to learn, but collaborating without nunchi might be understood by Koreans as  socially awkward or lack of a natural feel for the situation, as ConnectingCultures' country specialist @Sofie Brodersen writes in her blog about the same topic. See more here: https://sofietokorea.com/2018/06/19/the-sixth-korean-sense-nunchi/

A big thanks to Brit Kim for the great collaboration and for sharing your knowledge about South Korean culture and society. 

We could also talk about the importance of understanding Kibun, Hoesik, Yonjul, Hojuk, Uiri in order to thrive in South Korean business culture, or how which impact the gap between tradition and influences from Western countries has on the working preferences, but we will save that for another time.

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