South Korea’s pioneering businesses help shape the Korean travel experience

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

South Korea is a prosperous nation.

South Korea is a prosperous nation. It is a member of the G20 club of wealthy nations and has made its mark globally with exports of top-quality technology products, automobiles, and medical devices, among other things. The business culture of Korea marries Asian philosophy with a Western business outlook. In the turbulent second half of the 20th century, Korea pulled itself up by the bootstraps to rival its war-torn neighbor, Japan, as the economic champion of Asia.

The country was in terrible shape after the Korean War. The bitter split with the peninsula’s north separated families, halved the land, and left South Korea in a technical state of war that it would have to live with. The only choice was for the South to chart its own course forward, and it did. The country has claimed its spot in the global economic leadership with hard work and creative capitalism that saw Korean products showcased far beyond its shores or even Asia’s edges.

The national flag is centered around the yin and yang, the eastern symbol understood globally to represent universal balance. Surrounding that are four symbols known as trigrams, or kwae in Korean, which represent various human virtues, natural elements, cardinal directions, family relationships, and other meanings. These concepts are represented through symbols on the flag because the Confucian philosophical principles they relate to are fundamental to Korean society.

When you learn about Korean business, you can’t avoid the chaebol. You know them already–companies like Samsung and Hyundai are conglomerates that make many things, and they make them all very well. Korean families are tightly knit, and so are Korean companies.

As you travel throughout the land, you may experience technological advances that haven’t yet been brought to your country by Korean pioneers. You’ll see a Korea on the cutting edge, encouraged by a culture of achievement and a government that is willing to invest.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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