The Definitive Guide to Business Cards in Korea Edition

8/4/2019 The Definitive Guide to Business Cards in Korea Edition

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The Definitive Guide to

Business Cards in Korea

By Steven S. Bammel, PresidentTM

Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.Tel: +1 (972) 255-4808Fax: +1 (214) 853-5374Email:Website:

[email protected]

KoreanConsulting&Translation

TM

Service,Inc.

CS

Everything You Need to Know About:

Why Business Cards Are Important in Korea

Business Etiquette on How to Exchange Them

How to Translate and Design Them, and

How to Get Them Printed both Inside and Outside Korea

GyeongGi Province FDI AdvisorGAFIC Advisor

Korea FTA Industry Association, Committee MemberGlobalInsp iration

Succeed in Business in Koreby Networking and Learnin

2011EDITION!

Korea Business CentraAnOnline CommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessin Ko


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Korean

Consulting& TranslationTMService,Inc.

CS


Business Cards in KoreaEverything You Need to Know About:

Why Business Cards Are Important in KoreaBusiness Etiquette on How to Exchange Them




BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

[ ] INTRODUCTION 3

[ ] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL! 4

[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTE 5

Greetings and Introductions 5

Korean Names and Job Titles 6

Business Card Exchanges 7

Even Koreans Need to Learn about Business Card Etiquette! 8

[ ] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREAN 9

Personal Names 9

Job Titles 10

Professional Designations 15

Company Names 16

Company Forms 17

Addresses 18

Phone/Fax/Email 19

Logos, Slogans and Tag Lines 10

[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS 21

[ ] GETTING KOREAN BUSINESS CARDS PRINTED 22

Easy Option - Have Us Prepare Your Korean Business Cards 22

Do-It-Yourself Option - Prepare Your Own Korean Business Cards 22

[ ] IT NEVER HURTS TO GET A LITTLE CREATIVE 29

Korea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


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Hello,

Some Westerners doing business in Korea believe they adequately understand the

nature of hierarchy within Korean business culture. Others merely have a vague ideathat a well-developed business hierarchy exists. But few understand the depth andimportance of this concept within the Korean business world.

The primary reason business cards are so important in Korean business is that theycommunicate the position of each person within this business hierarchy. Rank isbuilt into the social fabric of Korean society, and you cannot ignore this importantfact if you expect to successfully promote business here. Though rank in Korea canbe based on many things, in business it starts with job position.

Probably one of the hardest areas of language for foreigners to grasp when learningKorean is the various ways in which Korean requires the speaker and listener to

understand and express how various players fit into the social hierarchy. This is farmore complex in Korean than the tu/usted concept of Spanish; Korean speakersmust be aware of and reflect the relative positions of the speaker, listener and 3rdpersons being spoken about at all times.

Indeed, there is no neutral way to communicate in Korean and you cannotproperly utter even simple sentences or greetings without the implication of respector disrespect.

Therefore, if you are living in Korea or visiting Korea on business, you will soon findthat business cards are essential.

I'm not going to tell you that your English-only business cards won't work (in fact,

they're better in Korea than your Chinese/English or Japanese/English cards), butKorean/English business cards will demonstrate to your potential Korean partnersthat you are serious, and that you understand and respect their culture. This smalleffort on your part establishes trust and maximizes your opportunity for excellentresults.

Therefore, I strongly recommend that you carry double-sided English/Koreanbusiness cards with you on business in Korea and with Koreans anywhere. Thisguide will explain the ins-and-outs of Korean business cards and provide step-by-step instructions on how you can prepare them yourself with a little help from aKorean acquaintance.

Korean business cards are how you take business seriously in Korea!

Steven S. BammelPresident/Translator and Business ConsultantKorean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

PS: I hope you find this information useful. Once you've had a chance to review thematerials, please visit our discussion at Korea Business Central( ) andshare your feedback, questions and ideas. I am eager to hear back from and discusswith readers so that the next edition of this eBook will be even better than thisfirst one!

JOB POSITION IS THE BASIS FOR BUSINESS INTERACTIONS

HIERARCHY IS EVEN BUILT INTO THE KOREAN LANGUAGE

BUSINESS CARDS ARE A MUST

http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/the-definitive-guide-to

[ ] INTRODUCTIONI

[ ] INTRODUCTIONI

Contact me...

Please feel free to contact mepersonally with any questions youmight have about the many waysthat Korean Consulting andTranslation Service, Inc. can helpyou succeed in business in Korea.

My preferred method ofcommunication is email to

Special thanks...

I'd like to express a special thanksto Peter Underwood of IRC for hidetailed feedback and suggestionson the first edition.

In fact, you can check out hisinterview at the following link onKoreaBusinessCentral.com aboutdoing business in Korea:

[email protected]

http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/korea-business-central-4

Korean


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The Definitive Guide to BUSINESS CARDS IN KOREA

http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/korea-business-central-4http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/korea-business-central-4http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/korea-business-central-4http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/korea-business-central-4


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[ ] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIALII

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A LITTLE EFFORT AND A GREATATTITUDE GO A LONG WAY!

I received the followingtestimonial from a client whobought Japanese business cardsfrom me before heading toJapan on business. Because thevalue of business cards is similarin both Korea and Japan, andsince Chuck's experienceexemplifies so many importantaspects of doing business inKorea (and Japan), I've includedhis testimonial here, with hispermission.

From: Chuck Curlin

Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 9:08 PMTo: Steven S. Bammel

Subject: RE: Follow up on Message Sent Last Night

Steven,

I neglected to get back with you after returning from Japan. My

apologies.

The trip was great and our hosts could not have been more

gracious. It was a wonderful experience to be in another

industrialized country and see how they do things. The cities

were awesome to behold and the bullet train was a sheer joy to

ride on. The Japanese people, everywhere I went were wonderful.

I was one of ten guests, architects and engineers, who were

invited by Mitsubishi to tour their manufacturing facilities and

some installations that highlighted their products. The groupwas made of individuals from across the USA. Two were from a

very large Architectural & Engineering (AE) firm in NYC, another

two were from another national AE firm in Oklahoma, and another

one was from a very large AE firm in the Pacific NW. I was from

the smallest firm in the group.

However, I was the only one who had done research on Japanese

culture, had tried to learn some of the language, and had come

with gifts for our hosts. It was fun in that regard Trump-

ing the New Yorkers. The gifts I gave (all Panthers NFL items)

were very much appreciated and so were the business cards

printed in Japanese. There was an obvious difference in their

reaction when they accepted one of my cards. Eyebrows raised, a

look of excited happiness, and often the words, In Japanese!.

This was somewhat to the chagrin of my colleagues who

themselves were impressed.

One of the gifts I gave was a football, to one of the plant

managers in Wakayama. Contrary to what I had read, he opened it

while we were still there, (although not in my direct sight),

and came looking for me to toss it. I recently received a photo

of his young son holding the football. I invited him to come to

Charlotte and see a game if he was to ever make it over here,

and as luck would have it, he will be coming next week (the US

headquarters for Mitsubishi Electric are in Georgia) and staying

long enough to come to the Monday night Football game on

December 8th.

Thanks again for the great service you provided. If ever the

need should once more arise for me or someone I know, I will be

sure to give you a call.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Chuck

Charlie D. (Chuck) Curlin, Jr., P.E., C.P.D.

Member - ASHRAE, ASPE

Senior Vice President

David Shultz Associates, P.C.

212 N. McDowell St., Ste. 204 (28204)

P.O. Box 37008, Charlotte, NC 28237

Website: www.dnshultz.com




[ ] AN AMAZING TESTIMONIAL!IIKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


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[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTEIII

It is important to greet a Korean in the right way. While foreigners aregiven some leeway, your effort to greet and introduce yourself andothers properly will be greatly appreciated in Korea.

Also, while it can be hard for some to accept the sexism implied in thefollowing Korean business etiquette guidelines, the information herenevertheless reflects the reality that still exists in Korean business today.

1. When meeting a man, it is customary to greet with a handshake. Youmay also combine the handshake with a bow. Foreign women will beexpected to greet with a handshake, too. Business cards arecommonly exchanged together with the handshake.

2. Though you won't necessarily be expected to shake hands with thelow-ranking Korean women in the group, you should make it a point

to shake hands with all the men.

3. Korean men and women seldom shake hands and instead greet eachother with a quick bow. However, in the unlikely event that you meeta woman with a high company rank, you may interact with hersimilarly to the men.

4. As a general rule, the higher the rank of the person you are greeting,the deeper you should bow. However, this is not expected fromforeigners and may be left out if the whole idea of bowing makes youuncomfortable.

5. Introduce the people of your entourage beginning with the personsof highest rank. In general, the party leader should take charge of theintroduction process.

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The following tips about Korean greetings, names and business cardexchanges come from our 7-Day Korea Business Etiquette eCourse.Visit to signup for free!

http://www.koreanconsulting.com/etiquette_course.php

Greetings and Introductions




[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD ETIQUETTEIIIKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


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1. Korean first and last names are reversed from the with this. If they don't know your title, you may alsoWestern system. While Koreans will often switch the be addressed with the suffix "-shi". (e.g. Steven-shi,order of their names in English to help foreigners, this Jenny-Shi). In Korean business society, this is onlycan merely make the situation more confusing. A used for low-ranking people; it seems to be moreKorean whose name is Jin-Ho Park in English, would say acceptable to address foreigners this way and is nothis name as Park Jin-Ho in Korean. You can clarify by necessarily a term of disrespect.asking your counterpart what his "given" and "family" 6. All of the above information is easily accessiblenames are, with these corresponding to "first" and "last" from your counterpart's business card. Since thenames respectively in the Western sequence. You should early establishment of rank is so important in Koreanalmost never address a Korean by his given name; introductions, this is the reason that business cardstherefore, getting his/her family name is important. are exchanged almost at the outset of meeting

2. Addressing someone with "Mr." in a business setting someone. Your counterpart's business card willindicates that his rank is very low. Therefore, you almost certainly have an English side. By referring to

should try to get his job title and then address him by that, you can get his job position and name.his job position/title and last name. (e.g. General 7. Self-employed Koreans will often make up titlesManager Lee, President Kim). If a low ranking that don't exactly describe their job. A president oemployee, you can go with "Miss" and "Mr." (e.g. Miss a one-man operation who used to work in a largerHong, Mr. Park.) Some common job positions are quite company as a general manager, may ask you to calllong (e.g. Deputy General Manager, Senior Managing him by his previous title (e.g. General Manager Lee).Director). You should pronounce them in full even if it He might even make something up entirely, such astakes a mouthful. This will show that you've taken the Office Manager Kim, when he's really the presidenttime to be precise with this matter and are not careless of his own company.in your regard for the company hierarchy.

8. Korean job titles often experience "upward drift"3. At least 70% of the Korean population has one of when translated to English. The English

the top seven surnames (which are, in order from translations given later in this ebook for variousmost common: Lee, Kim, Park, Jeong, Yoon, Choi, Yoo) company job positions are correct and generallyso it is not unlikely that more than one person in your accepted as such. However, Koreans often "promotegroup of counterparts will have the same surname or themselves when translating their cards to English,even the same last name with the same job title. When which is a nice way of saying that their English jobtwo Koreans have the same surname, they may titles are not always correct. For example, I've seendistinguish each other by their initials. In that case, they "Managers" pass themselves off as "Directors". Andwill insert their initials before their last name. (e.g. "Senior Managing Directors" occasionally put "ViceManager C. J. Lee and Manager P. K. Lee.) While this is President" on their English card. If you really want tocommon practice, it can also cause problems since local know what a Korean's job title is, try comparing thestaff won't always recognize who "CJ Lee" or "PK Lee" is job title written in Korean with the job positionsif you call in by phone later and ask for them this way. listed below.

4. Normally, you should never speak to a Korean in a 9. Korean adults almost never (with the emphasisbusiness setting using his Korean first name but if he on "never") address each other by their firstintroduces himself with a Western first name nickname, names only, even among close friends. Indeed, inyou may use that freely and without attaching his job friendly relationship (as opposed to businesstitle or last name. It is highly unlikely that he'll ask you relationships), people "lose" their names when theyto call him by his Korean first name unless he's really have kids. They are then addressed in relation totrying to do things the "American" way. their children. (e.g. Min-Ju's mom, or Kyeong-Jin's

5. In spite of the fact that Koreans know that dad).Westerner's have their given name first and family 10. All this name calling can get very confusing - evename second, you may find they get confused and for a Korean. Feel free to ask your counterpart howaddress you incorrectly (e.g. Mr. Steven, President he wants to be addressed. You don't need to figureBob). You can choose whether to correct them or go all out intuitively.

Korean Names and Job TitlesWhen you meet Koreans on business, the first thing to get through is the introduction. Be careful to make a goodfirst impression! Korean business society is very hierarchical and male-dominated. While there are exceptions, youcan generally assume that the oldest man in the group is running the show.





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Exchanging business cards is part of the introduction process. Beready with the following useful tips!

1. Cards are exchanged at the beginning of a meeting; make sure you

have enough available for everyone.2. It is best to stand up when exchanging cards with those of higherrank.

3. Facing your counterpart, bow slightly and hand your card (with theKorean-language side pointing up!) either with your right hand orboth hands. The same rule applies when receiving a card fromsomeone else. If the two of you are of similar rank, you may findyourself giving your business card at the same time as the otherperson is giving you his. In this case, give with the right hand andreceive with the left.

4. Take time to review your counterpart's card carefully. You might wantto speak his/her name and position to be sure of correctpronunciation. If the meaning of his/her job position is in any wayunclear, it would not hurt to ask for an explanation. Basically, youwant to show interest in and respect to the other party.

5. DO NOT shove the card into your back trouser pocket!!

If you are meeting in passing, then you may just carefully place thecard in a shirt pocket or in a wallet or notebook.

If you are seated at a meeting, place the card gently on the table infront of you. Look at it often during the meeting in order to refercorrectly to your counterpart's name and position. If you aremeeting more than one person and have received multiple cards,arrange them neatly in front of you.

6. Koreans hand out their business card at the drop of a hat. Don't beleft out! Give your card to anyone that you'd like to hear from again.You'll likely go through a lot more cards during your trip to Korea thanyou would back home.

7. Don't scribble notes on business cards as it does not show respect toyour counterpart. You may however write additional contactinformation on the card if provided.

8. If you've already exchanged business cards with a Korean before, don'tgive them your card again the next time you meet, unless your cardhas been updated and you explain that this is the reason for giving asecond card. Trying to give your card to someone again indicates youforgot that you met them before (likely the case, if you're not careful!)and this is a slight you'd do best to avoid.

Business Card Exchanges





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The Joongang Daily, one of the top newspapers in Korea, published thefollowing article on February 25, 2009 about how to give and receivebusiness cards, with special emphasis on the showing of respect for theother person. (Can you imagine a US newspaper having so much to say

on this subject!?)

Even Koreans Need to Learn about Business Card Etiquette!

>Don't just put a business card battle without a weapon.into your wallet immediately But if you make sure to haveafter receiving it. Instead, left spare weapons allkeep it on the table until the around in various places,end of your meeting. This is you'll always be ready for a

regarded as an expression of meeting.respect to the other person.

>Place a business card which>A business card wallet should you have just received in the

be used only for carrying front of your wallet. Puttingaround your own business other cards (perhaps evencards. This means that you your own!) in the back tellsshould properly organize and your counterpart, I'll be ableput away the cards you have to find your name later if Ireceived from others each day. need it.

>When doing business with >When receiving a businessforeigners, you should take card, be sure to at least

measures to prepare separate comment briefly about thebusiness cards in the logo or design of the card. Thisrespective languages of your shows that you have lookedcounterparts. When it isn't carefully at the other person'spossible to go this far, it would business card.still be polite to at least

>If the other person is yourpresent cards in a language

elder or someone of high rank,that your counterparts can

it is polite to offer youreasily understand (for

business card first. Hand yourexample, English) and to hand

business card to the otherthe business card to them with

person and then receive thethis language facing upward.

business card of the other>Be sure to keep plenty of person in return. It would be

business cards around, such as discourteous to give your cardin your briefcase, in your car with one hand at the sameor in your schedule book. Not time that you receive the otherhaving a business card on- person's card with your otherhand during an important hand [if there is a significantmeeting is like going into rank difference between you].

When in the Presence of an Elder,Offer Your Business Card First





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[ ] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KOREANIVThe following list of best practice approaches to translating each of theelements of a business card to Korean should not be regarded as the

ONLY way. There is no standard method and so feel free to customizeyour translation and design to your situation.

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Transliterate your name phonetically into Korean characters in the orderof your first name, middle name (if you use a middle name) and lastname. Koreans know (or at least, should know) that Western names aresequenced backward to the Asian order and if you try to turn your name

around to match the Korean name order, it will only make things moreconfusing. If a recipient of your card is having trouble figuring out whichis your first name and which is your last name, then you can tell him orher.

If you use a middle initial, leave it in English or drop it out completely.Another approach is to write out the pronunciation of the middle initialletter in Korean, but I don't think this looks as good as leaving the initialin English.

Punctuation between names is the same for English and Korean. Note

that when localizing English names into Japanese and Chinese, it ispretty common to put a centered dot between names, instead of aspace. But this is not the best approach for Korean cards.

Personal Names

Korean(OK, but Not Preferred)

Example

Korean(Preferred)

English

Bill W. Stacy W. OR

.




[ ] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KORIV

Watch The Colors!

Never write names in redfont. Not the names of

people, their job titles ortheir company name. Neveever... without exception...It's the color used forwriting the names of thedead and is consideredunlucky (to put it mildly).



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Job titles can be the hardest part of translating a business card.

This is because 1) getting the title right is very important and 2) titlesdon't always transfer one-for-one between languages, especially in thecase of Western companies that have moved to a flat organizationalstructure.

The goal in translating the job title is to ensure that the recipients ofyour business card see you to be at the same place and level in yourcompany's hierarchy as you want them to see you. In some cases, this isnot hard; but certain job titles are particularly problematic, as explainedbelow.

Likewise, there are plenty of cases where the purpose of a business tripto Korea is specialized enough that you may want to customize your jobtitle for the trip.

For example, a Vice President of the company may want to go as aDirector of Marketing to be in line with the trip's objectives. Keep inmind though that your Korean counterparts will form their impression ofyou based on both the English and Korean sides of the card, so the twoshould be in agreement, or kept strategically vague.

One more point to remember is that you should not put on the end

of a job title on a business card. This is an honorific suffix for a name/jobtitle when speaking of or to someone else, but it is not part of the job

title and should not be included in the job title on your business card.

Job TitlesHere's What Koreans DoSometimes!

Another point to keep inmind with business cards o

Koreans is that of dual jobtitles, which is where aKorean of certain rank inKorean will presentthemselves with an Englishjob title which is clearlyhigher than what they reallare in Korean. I've seenmany such cases, such aswhere a Korean GeneralManager becomes aDirector in English.



[ ] TRANSLATING BUSINESS CARDS TO KORIVKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


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COMPANY TITLES

The following fifteen positions shown in blue are the standard positions withinthe hierarchy of large Korean conglomerates (commonly called chaebol). Sincethe chaebol lead the Korean business world, the same general hierarchy isfollowed in smaller companies, too, though some positions are left out if aparticular company is not large enough to fill all of these levels.

Chairman

Vice-Chairman

Director is one of the hardest job titles to translate on a business card. Thetranslation provided above refers to the lowest top-management position in thestandard Korean hierarchy; right below it would be the top level of middle

management. In fact, the Director position functions as the link between top-management and the rest of the company as the director is in constant contactwith those above and under him, but once he promotes to managing directorand beyond, he is no longer in day-to-day contact with the rank-and-file.

This same translation () can also refer to a member of the board of

directors. However, in Western companies, the director position is a much moreflexible term and often refers to the person overseeing a department orbusiness unit, or even the head of an organization. In some cases, the above

title can work, but in other cases, it is better rendered as or

(the latter translated below as General Manager).

If translating Director to show responsibility for a department or team, it is

best to indicate the unit. Thus Director, Sales Division would be

or just or Director of the Purchasing Team might be translated as

(which is actually more like Purchasing Team Leader, see

explanation below regarding Team Leader).




"Chairman" refers to the head of a group of companies, not just one company.

President

Vice President

Senior Vice-President

Executive Senior Managing Director

Senior Managing Director

Managing Director

Director



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Occasionally, the director title doesn't even clearly fit an existing Korean jobposition, or if it does, the connotation of rank in the organization ismisleading. In such cases, just transliterating the word director phonetically

as at least comes without baggage and can give the card holder

an opportunity to explain his or her role without pre-biasing card recipientsin advance.

This discussion doesn't even get into the translation of Director in non-business settings (such as the arts and education), where the range ofpossible translations is even wider.

Needless to say, if you are translating Director for your business card,make sure to talk it out in detail with a Korean associate before settling on afinal translation.

General Manager

Deputy General ManagerManager

Assistant Manager

Manager is another job title that is tricky to translate correctly andactually comes with four different iterations in Korean, as shown above. Thetranslation for general manager means the head of a department and thoseunder the general manager include the deputy general manager, manager,assistant manager and employee positions. But these other four positionsindicate grades of rank only; they often do not mean that the lower ranks

are reporting to anyone other than the general manager.

In fact, this is a good opportunity to explain that Korean companies aren't aslayer-heavy as they appear since everyone under the general manager isreporting directly to him/her and not to any of the others, which, if it werethe case, would indeed make for a lot of layers! This is also similar at the topof the corporation where the vice-president, executive senior managingdirector, senior managing director and managing director generally allreport directly to the president.

Employee

This is the job title for an entry-level employee of no rank at all. If you aretranslating a business card for someone without rank, it is often better tocome up with something better, such as Consultant, Salesperson,Secretary, etc.





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Many Korean business cards come with this job title in English and Korean, butit reflects a unique aspect of corporate governance in Korea; Western companiesdo not have a Representative Director position and business cards for Westerncompanies should not have this job title. To explain, the Representative Directorin a Korean context, is the legal representative of the company; he is the onewho goes to jail of the company does something wrong. He is not necessarily

the most senior and the Chairman (who is ordinarily the most senior) is oftennot the Representative Director. This is the closest to the European ManagingDirector, which is normally a lesser rank in Korean.

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This is actually a very good translation for President in many cases, particularlywith one-person companies, but really in just about any situation wherecommunicating that one is the head honcho is more important than linkingoneself into an organizational hierarchy. It's hard to explain why exactly, but in asmall company, this title carries more weight than the literal translation for

president, mentioned above. In fact, this is the way I translate my job title intoKorean even though the English version of my job title says President.

Representative of the company

Representative Director

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Chief Financial Officer

Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Technology Officer

Korean companies do not generally have official C-level titles, but of course,top-level managers fill these roles and so the English versions of business cardsof Korean executives will often include these. A good way to handle a C-leveljob position on a business card is to use it alongside one of the executivepositions shown above in the standard Korean hierarchy. The C-level title willcommunicate area of responsibility, while the standard Korean title will indicaterank.

Branch Head

Office Head

Team Leader

,

The Team Leader or Team Head position has become popular over the last10-12 years as Korean companies have started to dabble in cross-functionalteams. This position is not fixed into the traditional Korean company hierarchyand gets a good deal of respect. If your rank in your company is relatively lowbut you manage projects and people, then adding Team Leader to yourbusiness card in both English and Korean (along with your regular job position)is a great way to give your job title a boost.





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Founder

Co-Founder

Owner

Co-Owner

PartnerManaging Partner (generic)

Managing Partner (law firm)

General Counsel

Executive

Employee, Staff

or

School Headmaster

Chancellor

University President

Department Dean

Professor

Associate Professor

Assistant Professor

Teacher

Instructor

EDUCATION

Governor (of a state)

Governor (of a province)

SenatorCongressperson

Assemblyman/Assemblywoman*

Mayor

City Councilperson

GOVERNMENT




* (unicameral governmental system)



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The standard handling of professional designations in Korean is to putthem in front of the name and in a smaller font. This is not a hard-and-fast rule though and so you have a lot of flexibility in choosing whereyou want to place these.

When suitable translations exist, they are best translated. However, manyspecialized fields have their own unique designations and if this isinternationally recognized within the field, it often makes better sense tojust leave it in English. However, a professional designation left in Englishand placed in front of the name does look a little unusual.

The decision of where to put a professional designation gets even moreconfusing if someone has two, and one of them is translated and onenot. To put one in front of the name and one after the name would bedoubly unnatural.

In fact, for this reason, it often makes best sense (and doesn't matter atall in terms of communicating meaningfully to the card recipient) to justplace any and all professional designations after the name, as perWestern style. Koreans often do this, too.

Professional Designations

Doctor, Ph.D.

Master of Arts, Master of Science, etc. (MA, MS)

Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, etc. (BA, BS)

It is fine to just list a generic degree as shown above; or even to leave theEnglish abbreviation. However, preceding the designation with the fieldof the degree can add valuable information for the recipient of your

business card. Thus an Ed.D. becomes or a Masters in

Chemistry is translated as .

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

Attorney, Lawyer, (Esq.)Professional Engineer (PE)

Medical Doctor (MD)

Registered Nurses (RN)

Certified Financial Planner (CFP)





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Consultant

Adviser

Accountant

Author, WriterMusician

Judge

Secretary

Pastor, Minister (Rev.)

MISCELLANEOUS

Some company names are better left in English, particularly those withinitials, such as GE and IBM. In many cases, a company would just ratherits name remain in English for the unified branding effects, too.However, I like translating company names when appropriate and Ifollow these rules when approaching the subject.

If you determine that you will use a Korean translation of the name, findout first if your company already has a translation of its name in use. Ifsuch a translation exists, use it.

Examples: Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Disney

If your company's name does not have a pre-existing Korean translation,first try to translate according to meaning. Here are some examples ofcorporate names which are easily translatable.

Examples: "Northern Financial Advisors", "American Tools" and

"University of Texas"

However, company names based on the name of their founders or otherproper nouns often cannot be suitably translated and in this case, theyshould be transliterated phonetically.

Examples: "Merkel", "Sharp", "Sylvester Stanton"

Some company names can be a combination of translation andtransliteration:

Examples: "Stanton Tools", Reed Cosmetics"

Company Names





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Translating company forms is difficult in Korean because the exact samecompany forms often do not exist between countries.

For example, the governance structure of a corporation in Korea issomewhat different than in an American one, thus Representative

Director is generally used to refer to the top person in a Koreancorporation, whereas President or CEO is the top position in UScompanies.

Still, both are stock-based and translating to the Korean version ofcorporation does not generally introduce significant problems. Butsince the company form in Korean is generally placed in parenthesisBEFORE the company name, it's necessary to move the company form tothe front when translating a Western company form to Korean.

On the other hand, if translating to a Korean company form raises red

flags, then the best approach is to transliterate it phonetically. In thefollowing examples, the Korean versions that are not in parenthesis arethe transliterated names and in this case, they should be placed AFTERthe company name, not before.

Company Forms

Korean


CS

English

Company

Incorporated, Corporation

Limited Liability Corporation (LLC)

Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)

General Partnership

Professional Corporation (PC)

Partnership

Korean

(), ,

()

()

()

()

()





18/30

When Koreans prepare their business card with English on one side andKorean on the other, they always have the address in English on theEnglish side and Korean on the Korean; the post office in Korea willdeliver the mail regardless of which language is used.

But for non-Koreans, the question of whether or not to translate anEnglish address to Korean is more difficult because a non-Korean addresswritten in Korean characters is relatively meaningless. No post office inthe world will deliver to a non-Korean address written in Koreancharacters.

No harm is done on a business card though in translating a non-Koreanaddress to Korean if the English side of your card already has the addresswritten in English. In this case, having it in Korean on the Korean sidecan help Korean readers with the pronunciation of your address, as wellas make the Korean side look more Korean.

The following guidelines represent some best practices for translating anon-Korean address to Korean, but can be skipped if you choose to leaveyour address in English even on the Korean side of your card.

Addresses should be transliterated phonetically, not translated bymeaning. The only exception to this is the country, which should betranslated as per the normal Korean translation.

After the name of the state and city, adding the Chinese character for

state () and city () is a nifty way of making it clear to the Korean

reader which is the state and which is the city. I also think it looksclassier and means you don't have to use a comma to separate thetwo.

The order of the address should be adjusted to match the localaddress sequence in Asia meaning this order: country, state/province,city, street, house/office # and then finally postal code.

Add the Korean translation of your country to the Korean side of yourcard and place it at the very beginning of the address.

Addresses

Korean


CS

Example

English - Showing Word Order After Translation to Korean

English - Before

131 Baylor School RoadChattanooga, TN 37405

USA Tennessee-State, Chattanooga-CityBaylor School Road #131 (Zip) 37405

Korean

171 () 37405




More information...

For an extra technical discussioon translating English addressinto Korean for a business cardfor mailing, visit the following

post from my Nojeok Hill web

http://nojeokhill.koreanconsult.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.htm

http://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.htmlhttp://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.htmlhttp://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.htmlhttp://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.htmlhttp://nojeokhill.koreanconsulting.com/2010/09/translating-addresses-from-an-english-business-card-into-korean.html


19/30

The following are standard Korean translations for various contact methods.However, the latest trend on Korean cards is to almost always leave these inEnglish on both the English and Korean sides. Frankly, to my eye, I'd ratherone side be completely in English and one side completely in Korean on adouble-sided card. However, using the initial shown in parenthesis or the fullword in English are also perfectly fine approaches for the Korean side.

I do recommend that at least on the Korean side of the card, you add theinternational country code for your country, preceded by the + symbol, sothat callers from Korea will know how to dial you by phone or fax. Thus, myUS phone number (972) 255-4808 becomes +1 (972) 255-4808 whenincorporating the international calling code.

Phone/Fax/Email

Korean


CS

Telephone, Tel, Phone (T, P)

Direct telephone (D)

Direct (D)

Office telephone (O)

Office (O)

Home telephone (H)

Home (H)

Main, Main telephone (M)

Ext., Extension (E)

Fax (F)

Cell, Mobile (C, M)

Pager (P), Beeper (B)

Toll-free phone

Email, E-Mail (E)

Website

InternetPostal Code

,

,

,

(or if left English,Homepage)

, (orjust ( ), see addressexample above)





20/30

Many logos are just pictures which can't be translated. But others aremade up of words and generally they are left in English. This doesn'thave to be the case though; translated logos can really add a nice flair toa Korean business card. The challenge here is having your designer workin a graphics program to recreate the English logo with Koreancharacters and this can be very hard, depending on the logo.

Company slogans and tag lines and other similar text should usually betranslated to match the meaning of the original English, especially whenyou consider that these slogans and tag lines are often a key device usedfor communicating what a company does. However, when theslogan/tag text is a marketing phrase with a double-meaning in English,you may need to call on a good translator to think through it and comeup with something in Korean that, though not a literal translation, stillcommunicates the desired meaning.

Logos, Slogans and Tag Lines

Korean


CS





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[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARDDESIGN CONSIDERATIONSV

Designing a business card for Korea is an art, not a science. There are nohard-and-fast rules about how it must be done and nothing that says anon-Korean's card must be made to look like what a Korean designerwould make.

In fact, the most common and simplest approach to creating the Koreanside for a business card is simply to use the exact same layout of theEnglish card, but translated to Korean.

However, there are more creative approaches which can be taken too.I, personally, don't even carry a two-sided business card where the front

and back are identically formatted. Instead, I cram all of my informationin English and (some) Korean onto one side so that the back is availablefor additional information. This is a common approach that Koreanstake, though I get occasional comments that my business card looks toobusy.

Korean


CS

Here is how my colleague has prepared his card and you'll see that thefront and back are the same design, but one is in English and one inKorean. Note that Jin-Ho has put his job title above his name, since heprimarily uses this in Korea, and replaced some of the English logo witha Korean pronunciation of the first two words in the company name.

Preparing the LogoGraphic

Keep in mind whenpreparing your business

card that just using a logopulled off a webpage willgenerally not print well.Standard web resolution is72dpi, but for adequateprint quality, 200dpi is anabsolute minimum; 300dpiis better.

Korean business cardstend to place the logo atthe top-left corner, orcentered along the top;you'll find very few Koreabusiness cards with thelogo elsewhere. This

doesn't mean your cardhas to do this too, though. Feel free to use amuch creativity as you'dlike on your Koreanbusiness card.

A lot of Korean businesscards do put both theEnglish and Korean on thfront and use the back fo

some other purpose, suchas with my card. I see alot of Korean cards with amap to the office on theback.




[ ] KOREAN BUSINESS CARD DESIGN

CONSIDERATIONS

VKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


22/30

[ ] GETTING KOREAN BUSINESS CARDS PRINTEDVI

Our service at Asian Language DTP has been helping business peopleprofit in Korea for years. We do not merely translate your card - anytranslator can do that. Rather, we put our team of Korean experts towork for you to ensure that your card is linguistically and culturally rightand design-relevant, so that you and your company will reap maximumbenefits from them.

Your full-color Korean business cards are designed in English on the frontand Korean on the back and they are also quality-checked by way of a

multi-point rigorous cultural adaptation and translation process that isunique toAsian Language DTP .

Visit Asian Language DTP at to discoverhow premium business cards can make your business project in Korea, orwith Koreans anywhere in the world, a smashing success.

www.AsianLanguageDTP.com

Korean


CS

Easy Option - Have Us Prepare Your Korean

Business Cards

Do-It-Yourself Option Prepare Your Own

Korean Business CardsThis booklet is not primarily an advertisement for our business cardservices, though. You can save a lot of money by following the stepsbelow to prepare your own Korean business cards.

If you already have artwork for English business cards and if you'resatisfied with the design and content, then all you have to do on thisstep is to find those files. Otherwise, hire someone to design your

business card in English first.

My designer, Catalin Soreanu, can be reached through the KoreanBusiness Central site at this link:http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/profile/CatalinSoreanu.

He's a professional designer who does excellent work and you can payfor his services directly through PayPal.

A - DESIGN YOUR CARD IN ENGLISH

DTP

Asian Language




[ ] GETTING KOREAN BUSINESS CARDS

PRINTED

VIKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


23/30

Korean


CS

B - TRANSLATE AND DO LAYOUT OF YOUR CARD IN KOREAN

C - GET CARDS PRINTED

PRINT IN KOREA AT A SHOP

PRINT IN KOREA ONLINE

Work alongside a Korean associate while referring to the guidelines inChapter IV of this Guide in order to prepare your translation into a Wordfile in Korean. Then send this to your designer and have him prepare theKorean version of your card. (Again, Catalin can do this for you.)

You should ask your designer to send print-ready .pdf files back sincethat's what you'll need for the printer.

There are many print shops and stationery stores in Korea which handlebusiness cards. If they don't do it in-house, they will subcontract your

project to somewhere that does do the printing. Costs are so cheap thatthe convenience of taking your order to a local shop and letting themreturn your order in 1-2 days far outweighs the extra $3-4 you'd save bychasing down a place that actually does the printing in-house. MostKoreans get their cards done this way and if you simply walk in the doorwith your PDFs on a USB thumb drive, you'll be able to place your orderimmediately.

There are plenty of online business card sites in Korea. The one I got

started with was www.eCard21.co.kr and the instructions below explainhow to place an order for business cards within Korea.

The following instructions are prepared so that almost anyone can order,even without being able to read or type in Korean. However, a smallamount of Korean typing ability is necessary for entering the mailingaddress.

How I Ordered 200 English/Korean Double-Sided, Full-Color Business

Cards in Korea for About $12, Including Two-Day Shipping

1. I had my designer Catalin Soreanu prepare a two-page PDF of mybusiness card (dimensions: 92mm x 52mm) with one page in Englishand one in Korean.

2. I opened Internet Explorer because other browsers don't work well inKorea for e-commerce.

3. I went to www.ecard21.co.kr.




PRINTED



24/30

Korean


CS

4. I selected the following graphic that says (the actual

graphic on the site may be changed later).

5. I selected these options:

6. I then clicked this button:




PRINTED

VI

If you want a Western-style thick card stock, under (product

type), instead of (imported paper), choose

(best imported paper). You can then choose (extra

marshmallow) paper, which is much thicker than the standard thicknessIt costs about double though.



25/30

Korean


CS

7. I filled in the next screen as follows (though when I got to the addresssection, I had to follow the sub-process shown below this graphic).

7a. In the address lookup above, the following pop-up windowappeared.

7b. I entered the "dong ()" in which I live and clicked "".




PRINTED



26/30

Korean


CS

7c. I got a list of choices.

I clicked the one that corresponds to where I want the cards delivered

and then returned to the main form to enter the rest of my address.

8. After finishing the large form above and clicking "", the following

screen was shown to me:

9. I then sent the amount shown in the blue box above to the bankaccount shown in the red box. I was sure to send from the bankaccount owned by the person I indicated in the form previously(which was me). I did it online but I could have sent payment byvisiting the bank.




PRINTED



27/30

10. At any time I can check the status of my order by clicking ""

on the home page:

Korean


CS

On the next screen, I need to click the "" tab to find my

name in the list, along with the order status:




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28/30

PRINT OUTSIDE KOREA AT A SHOP

PRINT OUTSIDE KOREA ONLINE

PRINT ON THE PRINTER IN YOUR OFFICE

Most FedEx Office (previously FedEx Kinko's) outlets offer a same-day printing service. If you have a bit more time, then any print shop justabout anywhere can take your PDF files and print business cards for you.

Be sure to clarify that you want double-sided cards; I once had a clienttake my files to their printer and get back two sets of one-sided cards;one set in Korean and one set in English!

If you have a little extra time,www.Moo.com offers surprisinglyeconomical and convenient international printing and deliveryworldwide. There are plenty of other online printers out there, too.

I do not recommend that you print your cards on an office or homeprinter. Not only is every desktop printer different and getting the paperlined up properly can be prohibitively time-consuming from a file-prepstandpoint, but the final output is not very good due to thin paper andlow print quality. Also, cutting your cards straight is very difficult, if notimpossible.

If you're going to get Korean cards prepared for doing business in Korea,

do it right and don't risk making a bad impression with home-madecards.

Korean


CS




PRINTED



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[ ] IT NEVER HURTS TO GET A LITTLE CREATIVEVII


You won't offend anyone in Korea bythinking outside the box a bit; in fact, a

creative business card approach can getyou noticed.

Here's what I did lately with my businesscards when I started wanting to includemore information on my card than wouldnormally fit.

Korean


CS



[ ] IT NEVERHURTS TO GET A LITTLE

CREATIVE

VIIKorea Business CentralAnOnlineCommunityFocusedon DoingBusinessinKorea


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Second Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book

may be reproduced or transmitted in any

form or by anymeans, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying,

recording or by any information storage

system without written permission from

the author, except for the inclusion of brie

quotations in a review.

Copyright 2011

2534 Cheyenne St.

Irving, TX 75062

Tel: +1 (972) 255-4808

Fax: +1 (214) 853-5374

Email:

Website:

[email protected]

www.koreanconsulting.com

Published by:

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KoreanConsulting& Translation

TM

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CS

C

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Korean Consulting & Translation Service, Inc.

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Premium Korean Translation

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Business Cards in KoreaEverything You Need to Know About:

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The Definitive Guide to Business Cards in Korea Edition