Favoritism in Korean Companies

    So this isn't just about kpop companies, I mean all Korean companies ever. Or most. Most Korean companies have some CEO who favors someone more than everyone else. I know this sounds like a common global problem in the workplace but as someone who works with companies over multiple countries, it's the worst and most apparent in Korea.

    The favored person in Korea, in my job area, gets the most promotions, the most assignments and the assignments that are either the easiest, quickest or have the most supplies to support it.

    In kpop it's usually the favored person gets more promotions and deals for commercials or modeling or solo stuff. I've seen some threads about them getting better clothes or whatever which might be a part of it but I don't know about that.

    Why is there favoritism worse in Korean workplaces? Maybe it has to do with the fact that most CEOs are men, and most favorites happen to be women. Maybe that's a coincidence but I have seen situations where a favored person is favored because they are attractive and not really better at their job. Maybe it has to do with the culture here. I don't know.

    What do you think?

    As a general rule of thumb, the higher up you go in an organization, the more favoritism happens.


    Another general rule of thumb is that eastern societies tend to value interpersonal connections and some even try to flex that over others; A right breeding ground for favoritism.


    I'm not saying that all companies or all entities follow this rule, but srs, the trends are saying smth.

    I'd say that chinese companies have it worst off because there's a whole bunch of political jockeying too; Whoever's got their political favors in line the best wins the court case.

    Quote from JaedaKim

    Why is there favoritism worse in Korean workplaces? Maybe it has to do with the fact that most CEOs are men, and most favorites happen to be women.

    So in all these Korean companies the CEO is male and then most others at the top are female? That would be very progressive if true, whatever the motivation. However the strong culture - not so much right now - of room salons and noreabang for groups of horny businessmen in Korea suggests otherwise. However favourite a woman might be in a company it's probably not going to result in her gaining access to the "boys only" spaces in her company and benefiting from that kind of favouritism. It's more likely to manifest in harassment.


    If you look at the boards for any large Korean company they are very much male dominated. Do you think they are all there by merit?

    Quote from CherrySoda

    So in all these Korean companies the CEO is male and then most others at the top are female? That would be very progressive if true, whatever the motivation. However the strong culture - not so much right now - of room salons and noreabang for groups of horny businessmen in Korea suggests otherwise. However favourite a woman might be in a company it's probably not going to result in her gaining access to the "boys only" spaces in her company and benefiting from that kind of favouritism. It's more likely to manifest in harassment.


    If you look at the boards for any large Korean company they are very much male dominated. Do you think they are all there by merit?

    Not all CEOs are male here but a lot are, it's very hard for women to get to that level as fast or easy as men do, this sounds like I'm blaming men for everything wrong in the world but it really is hard to work your way up there

    I think they are there by merit because Korea doesn't usually put up with lazy people, maybe some are there because their families are rich but not all

    fair points.

    Quote from JaedaKim

    So this isn't just about kpop companies, I mean all Korean companies ever. Or most. Most Korean companies have some CEO who favors someone more than everyone else. I know this sounds like a common global problem in the workplace but as someone who works with companies over multiple countries, it's the worst and most apparent in Korea.

    The favored person in Korea, in my job area, gets the most promotions, the most assignments and the assignments that are either the easiest, quickest or have the most supplies to support it.

    In kpop it's usually the favored person gets more promotions and deals for commercials or modeling or solo stuff. I've seen some threads about them getting better clothes or whatever which might be a part of it but I don't know about that.

    Why is there favoritism worse in Korean workplaces? Maybe it has to do with the fact that most CEOs are men, and most favorites happen to be women. Maybe that's a coincidence but I have seen situations where a favored person is favored because they are attractive and not really better at their job. Maybe it has to do with the culture here. I don't know.

    What do you think?

    I get if being attractive here refers to first off good looking along with personal charisma then it makes sense in S Korea.


    Koreans valued physical appearance more than any other East Asian countries that I know of, or why do you think plastic surgery industry has become an icon of the country.. which makes pretty faces or figures the endorsed super merit and potential to obtain better interpersonal work performance by Korean CEOs,most of the picks go to female~

    unspoken rules on some lucky ones may exist without surprise, figure this is not only in SK they simply took it more for granted.


    just my idea~

    Attractive here means not only physically attractive or personality attractive but also just liked for some reason by the CEO or other higher ups

    Good theory, it seems to fit the problem

    Some favorites seemed to be picked for no reason too sometimes, like they aren't the prettiest worker, or the best, or the most unique person there either

    Who knows why the chosen are chosen?

    Quote from JaedaKim

    So this isn't just about kpop companies, I mean all Korean companies ever. Or most. Most Korean companies have some CEO who favors someone more than everyone else. I know this sounds like a common global problem in the workplace but as someone who works with companies over multiple countries, it's the worst and most apparent in Korea.

    The favored person in Korea, in my job area, gets the most promotions, the most assignments and the assignments that are either the easiest, quickest or have the most supplies to support it.

    In kpop it's usually the favored person gets more promotions and deals for commercials or modeling or solo stuff. I've seen some threads about them getting better clothes or whatever which might be a part of it but I don't know about that.

    Why is there favoritism worse in Korean workplaces? Maybe it has to do with the fact that most CEOs are men, and most favorites happen to be women. Maybe that's a coincidence but I have seen situations where a favored person is favored because they are attractive and not really better at their job. Maybe it has to do with the culture here. I don't know.

    What do you think?

    Favoritism is a very negative phenomenon in my opinion.

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