Business Korean
Professional Korean for meetings, presentations, and workplace communication.
Korean business communication has specific conventions that differ significantly from casual Korean. The default register is formal 합쇼체 (-ㅂ니다/습니다), with subject honorifics -(으)시- liberally applied to anyone above you. Hierarchy matters intensely — 상사 (superior), 부장 (department head), 과장 (manager), 대리 (associate), 사원 (staff) are not abstract titles but operative levels that determine language choice.
Key business vocabulary: 회의 (meeting), 보고 (report, both noun and verb), 프로젝트 (project), 일정 (schedule), 마감 (deadline), 결재 (approval workflow). Common phrases at meetings: 안건이 무엇입니까? (what's the agenda?), 의견을 말씀해 주세요 (please share your opinion), 검토하겠습니다 (I'll review this). Korean business culture has been Westernising over the 2020s — strict hierarchy and after-hours drinking culture are declining — but the linguistic register remains formal. Speaking 반말 in a business setting is essentially never appropriate.
~(으)시겠습니까 — Would you (super formal question)
Verb stem + (으)시겠습니까 is the most formal way to ask someone to do something. Used in meetings, presentations, and formal settings. 시작하시겠습니까? (Shall we begin?) 검토해 주시겠습니까? (Would you review it?)
~(으)면 좋겠습니다 / ~았/었으면 합니다 — I wish / I would like
Polite way to express wishes in business. ~(으)면 좋겠습니다 = It would be good if ~. ~았/었으면 합니다 = I wish / I would like ~. Both are softer than direct requests.