Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
washingtonpost.com
Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
1–10 of 21 posts
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#2First, not all western names are "English", come on.
Things are complicated:
- A good chunk of Koreans are Christians (either Catholics or American style Protestants), and get a biblical name at baptism.
- Many employees at those high-profile companies have studied or even lived abroad, and might have used another first name there. Some dual-citizens (which is a fairly new thing in Korea) even have different first names on their respective passports.
- There are many reasons behind using nicknames for correspondence with foreigners, it's not necessarily to make your company look more global than it really is (even though yes, that's also one reason). It isn't specific to Korean, but a lot of "first names" (typically the middle and last character) are not clearly associated to a gender, especially to foreign ears. Also, the romanization of Korean is a pretty confusing mess overall, unlike with Japanese for instance. There have been several systems in use, and names show the biggest inconsistencies (for example Lee, I, Yi, Ri, Rhee are all the same family name). Does "Yuna" mean Yeona like the skater or Yoona like the K-pop singer? You cannot know.
Now back to the policy discussed, I left Korea before it got introduced at my company, but I always found stupid to force people to pick another name. Lots of Koreans really don't want to. I called my VP by his real first name and he was fine with it.
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#3First, not all western names are "English", come on. Things are complicated: - A good chunk of Koreans are Christians (either Catholics or American style Protestants), and get a biblical name at baptism. - Many employees at those high-profile companies have studied or even lived abroad, and might have used another first name there. Some dual-citizens (which is a fairly new thing in Korea) even have different first na…
>First, not all western names are "English", come on.
Indeed. But the thing that raised by hackles was:
>“Using an English name even though you are not American is a little bit strange. Your name is from your own mother and father.”
America is not where English comes from. I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated.
But that sentence just pushed a button I wasn't aware I had, not least because while I'm British, I'm not English.
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#4First, not all western names are "English", come on. Things are complicated: - A good chunk of Koreans are Christians (either Catholics or American style Protestants), and get a biblical name at baptism. - Many employees at those high-profile companies have studied or even lived abroad, and might have used another first name there. Some dual-citizens (which is a fairly new thing in Korea) even have different first na…
>First, not all western names are "English", come on. Indeed. But the thing that raised by hackles was: >“Using an English name even though you are not American is a little bit strange. Your name is from your own mother and father.” America is not where English comes from. I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. But that sentence just pushed a button I wasn't aware I…
>I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated.
I would like to point out that every Korean person's name also has Chinese character behind it.
The new president of S Korea is Moon Jae-in Here are his names that were given by his parents, and used in legal documents.
Korean: 문 재인
Hanja: 文 在寅
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#5>Companies in English education, tourism, trade or other globally focused industries typically have English nickname policies. They want to accommodate foreign business partners who can’t decipher between Lee Ji-yeong and Lee Ji-yeon. “They’re thoughtful people,” Hong said. “It’s to be kind to foreign people.”
I lived in Korea for about a year and a half and Korean names were near impossible for me to remember en mass. That's because all Koreans have 3 syllable names, and they all use the same few syllables. To make it worse, many of these syllables sound alike!!!
When you have to remember the names of 20 or more people and they're like
"Kim-Yeon Lee" "Kim-Yeung Ye" "Kim-Hyun Ji"
I don't know how a non-Korean can keep up with that for any length of time when it involves a large number of Koreans. Many Koreans who speak English have English names they choose for interacting with foreigners and none of them seem to mind. It is very considerate of them because having to remember their Korean names can be painful for non-Koreans. I imagine it's also because my difficulty with Korean names was not something unique. It's probably something they noticed among many foreigners and compensated for.
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
>First, not all western names are "English", come on. Indeed. But the thing that raised by hackles was: >“Using an English name even though you are not American is a little bit strange. Your name is from your own mother and father.” America is not where English comes from. I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. But that sentence just pushed a button I wasn't aware I…
>I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. I would like to point out that every Korean person's name also has Chinese character behind it. The new president of S Korea is Moon Jae-in Here are his names that were given by his parents, and used in legal documents. Korean: 문 재인 Hanja: 文 在寅
Not every. Actually it's kind of a trend now to give your kids "pure Korean" names with no Chinese character backing. Both of my children are half Korean and live in Korea and their first names bear no Chinese origin. Similarly there's a trend of giving your children a single syllable given name rather than two syllables.
To clarify, the mother of my children and her family are staunchly Korean with one half from 경상도 and the other 전라남도...not particularly raised with extraordinary exposure to foreigners so I was quite surprised when she agreed with the names.
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#7First, not all western names are "English", come on. Things are complicated: - A good chunk of Koreans are Christians (either Catholics or American style Protestants), and get a biblical name at baptism. - Many employees at those high-profile companies have studied or even lived abroad, and might have used another first name there. Some dual-citizens (which is a fairly new thing in Korea) even have different first na…
>First, not all western names are "English", come on. Indeed. But the thing that raised by hackles was: >“Using an English name even though you are not American is a little bit strange. Your name is from your own mother and father.” America is not where English comes from. I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. But that sentence just pushed a button I wasn't aware I…
Apologies but I'm trying to learn the hierarchy so I stop insulting my British colleagues.
Being British but not English would make you... Welsh or Irish?
Edit: no! Welsh or Scottish. Ireland is part of the British Isles but but Great Britain.
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
>I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. I would like to point out that every Korean person's name also has Chinese character behind it. The new president of S Korea is Moon Jae-in Here are his names that were given by his parents, and used in legal documents. Korean: 문 재인 Hanja: 文 在寅
Not every. Actually it's kind of a trend now to give your kids "pure Korean" names with no Chinese character backing. Both of my children are half Korean and live in Korea and their first names bear no Chinese origin. Similarly there's a trend of giving your children a single syllable given name rather than two syllables. To clarify, the mother of my children and her family are staunchly Korean with one half from 경상도…
Thanks for pointing it out. Like 2 decades ago I knew a guy with 1 syllable name (like Hoon, Yi) which was quite unique. It had been done for a long time but not as common. I guess it is less rare.
Lol 2 families from 경상도 and 전라남도 joined by marriage...
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
>First, not all western names are "English", come on. Indeed. But the thing that raised by hackles was: >“Using an English name even though you are not American is a little bit strange. Your name is from your own mother and father.” America is not where English comes from. I mean I understand that America's influence on South Korea probably can't be overstated. But that sentence just pushed a button I wasn't aware I…
Apologies but I'm trying to learn the hierarchy so I stop insulting my British colleagues. Being British but not English would make you... Welsh or Irish? Edit: no! Welsh or Scottish. Ireland is part of the British Isles but but Great Britain.
Right, and calling someone English when they're Welsh or Scottish may rather annoy them.
There's an animosity towards the English from the Welsh. I believe the Scottish generally feel the same way towards them. England are like family that we love, but we don't really like very much.
Northern Ireland is a bit of a tricky one because people from Northern Ireland generally consider themselves "Northern Irish", "British" or "Irish".
I don't know if anyone would take offence at "Northern Irish", but you don't want to incorrectly guess either of the others!
Re: Why Korean companies are forcing their workers to go by English names
#10This is one Korean company that does it.