Today’s theme: 갑질 (Gapjil)

There has been a public uproar regarding the latest infamous behaviors of some of the familyKorean Air family. 조현민(CHO Hyun-min), who is in charge of marketing at Korean Air, is the second daughter of the company’s Chairperson. She rekindled furor with an episode of ‘갑질(Gapjil)’ by allegedly physically and verbally abusing an executive of an advertising company. The recent incident reminded the public of her elder sister 조현아(CHO Hyun-ah)’s gapjil back in 2014 known as ‘nut rage.’ We look into the definition of the term ‘gapjil’ and the impact of power distance here in Korea and abroad.

The Conversationalist

with

Kim Hoe (김 호)

- Founder and head coach of THE LAB h (a leadership and organizational communication consulting firm)

“I understand you also worked in a public relations agency for some time. I heard gab-jil can be quite common in these agency-client relations. Can you share your experience or insight?

To have such a frequent outburst tells us something about the emotional distress and frustration the person is going through, aside from just wanting to enjoy one's status. You wrote a column about people who have aggressive attitude in the workplace, saying the real reason behind is 'fear'. Can you tell us more about this?”

&

Professor Joseph Cabuay

- organizational leadership expert

from Department of Technology & Society at SUNY Korea

“It seems like the power imbalance between superior and subordinate allows things like gapjil or workplace harassment to happen. Is this only Korea's problem, or do other countries have the same issue as well?

You've lived and worked in more than 24 nations worldwide. Based on your experience, how does workplace culture such as having strict hierarchy affect workers' performance?”

Media Monster

Next week: The Simpsons

(in time for Family Month)