The first wall most foreign employees hit inside a Korean company isn’t the work itself — it’s the business terms and abbreviations. Lines like “I uploaded the report” (보고서 올렸습니다), “I’m waiting on approval” (결재 기다리고 있어요), or “Please confirm” (컨펌 부탁드립니다) can derail a whole meeting if one word slips past you. Learning just the core terms makes meetings and email far easier to follow.
Terms you’ll hear most
- 결재 (gyeoljae) — a superior formally reviewing and approving a document
- PT — a presentation deck or the act of presenting (not gym personal training)
- KPI — Key Performance Indicator; the basis for quarterly and annual reviews
- CS — Customer Service / Satisfaction management
- IR — Investor Relations, investor-facing communications
- R&R — Roles & Responsibilities
- 컨콜 (con-call) — a multi-party voice or video conference call
- EOD — End Of Day, before today’s business closes
- 어젠다 (agenda) — the list of meeting topics and discussion items
결재 (approval) vs. 승인 (endorsement)
결재 refers to the formal act of stamping or digitally signing a document such as a report or expense request. 승인 (seungin) is broader — “this item has been endorsed” — so a supervisor saying “Okay, go ahead” verbally still counts, while signing off on the document is 결재. In email, “Requesting your 결재” means “please officially authorize this proposal”.
Practical tips
The approval chain usually flows from the person in charge to the team leader, then up to the department head and executives. To track where your work stands, get in the habit of asking “where is the 결재 right now?” When you receive a task, always confirm the deadline (is it EOD?) and the owner (R&R) up front — it prevents a lot of confusion later.