WORK CULTURE – South Korean work culture is nicknamed “bali bali” culture, which means “quickly, quickly”. In Korean society, everything in the work place is based around instant gratification. The bosses want reports and answers immediately, sometimes without due diligence. This position puts employees under insane amounts of pressure to appease demanding bosses. This puts employees in an extremely depressed and stressed state. The work hours are long, arduous, and monotonous so there is little time for relieve and downtime. Koreans are expected to come 30 minutes early and leave 30 minutes after their “official” time. There are no true-blue requirements to have a decent break and to work through the pain is considered socially mandatory. On top of everything, the average work week is 45 hours but when you add “social obligations” the work week is somewhere around 60 hours easy. I have been working in South Korea for 13 months now and I feel as if I am going mad every single work day, I can only imagine what my Korean counterparts are feelings. Bali bali culture took South Korea from having the GDP of the Congo to the 12th in the world, but bali bali will not make the Korean people happier, more peaceful, and less stressed. - See more at: http://www.earthexcursion.com/a-few-things-south-korea-got-super-wrong/#sthash.fUqb6PtP.dpuf