Korean Business Card & Travel Etiquette
Every year Korea becomes more and more modern, but it is important to recognize that modern does not equal Western. Koreans will not expect you to be an expert on the nuances of their culture, but they will appreciate a show of interest in matters that are important to them. Koreans generally appreciate a foreigner's effort in expressing a thank you (gam-sa-ham-ni-da) or a hello (an-yang-ha-say-yo) in the Korean language. Producing a dual-sided Korean business card (in hangul) is another strong sign that you are sensitive to Korean culture.

Business Meetings:

• Punctuality is appreciated and business meetings should start and finish on time.
• The senior-most individuals are always introduced first, followed by younger and lower ranked participants.
• Questions of a personal nature may be asked, particularly concerning age, marital status, education, etc. These questions are not thought to be impolite, but rather to help the Koreans to recognize the appropriate social level and speech forms (degree of formality) that they should use when speaking.
• Since a consensus is important, there will usually be rather lengthy discussions before decisions are made. As a result, business negotiations will usually take much longer when compared to Western business cultures, so patience will be necessary.

Social Settings:

• For Koreans, it is considered to be polite to wait for the eldest person at the table to begin eating before everyone else starts.
• Likewise, one does not excuse him or her self from the table before the eldest person finishes.
• It is a bad breach of etiquette to pour your own drink..

Business Cards:

• It is best to stand up when exchanging cards.
• The exchange of business cards is very important and a means by which Koreans learn about the name, position and status of the other person.
• Businesspersons should always have their bilingual business cards at the ready and should treat the exchange of Korean business cards with respect. (It is a sign of respect to receive and present items with both hands, followed in business etiquette by passing and receiving a card with the right hand.
• One should never give a card, or anything else for that matter, with the left hand as it shows disrespect.)
• Exchange cards one-by-one, individual-to-individual, and use both hands where practical.
• NEVER distribute (or toss) your business card in a manner similar to dealing playing cards.
• NEVER place a stack of your cards on the table and offer others to take a card from the stack.
• On receiving a person's business card, accept it with both hands and then study carefully what is written on it. Very often business cards will have Korean on one side and English on the reverse, so carefully examine each side where applicable.
• Do read and acknowledge the full name and title of the other person.
• In Korea, the surname is given first followed by a one or two syllable given name.
• First names are rarely used except among very close friends. Even when meeting a large group of people, it is considered polite to take a moment to read each individual's name card upon exchange.
• If you are in a formal situation, it is proper to place the business card face up on the table in front of you and refer to it when necessary.
• DO NOT shove the card into your back trouser pocket.
• DO NOT write comments on another person's business card, in their presence. You may write on your own name card to add information (e.g., email, home phone number, etc.).
• If it is in a less formal setting, you may put the business card away after looking at it, but put it somewhere suitable. Just dropping it into a pocket maybe seen as rude.
  

How to Order Korean Business Cards
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Business Card Template Samples
Don't have an original electronic file for your English business card? That's ok. We can assist you by re-creating your card layout using one of our many templates to choose from. Our multilingual template designs range from full color dual-sided printing to economy black and white, and work for a wide variety of company interests. Please feel free to check our Template Samples page for more information.

Completed Business Card Translation Showroom
Above is a rotating graphic with some sample Asian multilingual business cards fully localized for Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. These cards are provided in just some of the 25+ languages we have to offer. To see other translated business card samples, please visit our "Completed Cards" page.